This week I was fined 100,000 dinars ($100) for being an illegal immigrant! The excitement never stops in Kurdistan.
My work visa ran out on April 31st and aware of this I went to the immigration office on the Monday prior only to find that they had closed early that week for holidays.
The KRG immigration department is a sprawling complex of buildings with a confushing labyrinth of corridors and offices all dedicated to some obscure process in the visa procedure. It is always packed, mainly with people from Iran, Syria, and Turkey.
This week I returned to sort it out, only to be told that since my visa had expired I needed to pay a 100,000 dinar. After paying the fine, I then had to apply again for a month visa which was straight forward enough. However, they then suggested that I apply for a year visa (having been illegal just moments before didn't seem to make a difference).
For a year long visa I needed to register with the Asaigh (Security) and have a security check. So I jump in a taxi and head off to the first Asaigh office, but of course with no proper addresses here, the taxi driver doesn't know where it is and I only know the general location. After driving around and asking for half an hour, I then tell the taxi driver to take me back to work so I can ask out Asiagh guard. By this time it is 1.30pm and the offices close at 2.30pm so I decided to try again in the morning.
This time I find the office in a crumbling old mansion and after a long wait I get to see the officer who speaks very good English. I answer a long list of questions some of which are a bit odd. I am asked if I smoke or drink to which I answer that I drink a little water. The officer thinks this is very very funny and writes down 'a little water'. Then I am asked if I am Muslim or Christian (the concept of 'no religion' is totally foreign here and not an option). After saying Christian, he asks 'Catholic, Protestant or All Sorts'. Naturally I can't resist being an 'All Sorts'.
Finally I get my security registration card and catch a taxi to Asaigh office number two about 3km away. This is another dilapidated old building and a officer leads me through narrow corridors and up to a tiny office into which five more officers are crammed. Here a pleasant officer keys my details into a computer and then gives me a clearance. This piece of paper I have to take to yet another office, again packed with about 10 officers where I get a letter to take back to immigration. They are just about to have lunch and are very insistent I join them, but I know if I have lunch I will run late at immigration.
Finally back, getting my residency visa is a quick and cheap (8,000 dinar/$8).
I doubt if the process is any less complicated in New Zealand, but at least here you can get it down very quickly. So within 24 hours I go from Overstayer to Resident.
Not too many NZers can say they have been an illegal immigrate in Iraq. :)))
My work visa ran out on April 31st and aware of this I went to the immigration office on the Monday prior only to find that they had closed early that week for holidays.
The KRG immigration department is a sprawling complex of buildings with a confushing labyrinth of corridors and offices all dedicated to some obscure process in the visa procedure. It is always packed, mainly with people from Iran, Syria, and Turkey.
This week I returned to sort it out, only to be told that since my visa had expired I needed to pay a 100,000 dinar. After paying the fine, I then had to apply again for a month visa which was straight forward enough. However, they then suggested that I apply for a year visa (having been illegal just moments before didn't seem to make a difference).
For a year long visa I needed to register with the Asaigh (Security) and have a security check. So I jump in a taxi and head off to the first Asaigh office, but of course with no proper addresses here, the taxi driver doesn't know where it is and I only know the general location. After driving around and asking for half an hour, I then tell the taxi driver to take me back to work so I can ask out Asiagh guard. By this time it is 1.30pm and the offices close at 2.30pm so I decided to try again in the morning.
This time I find the office in a crumbling old mansion and after a long wait I get to see the officer who speaks very good English. I answer a long list of questions some of which are a bit odd. I am asked if I smoke or drink to which I answer that I drink a little water. The officer thinks this is very very funny and writes down 'a little water'. Then I am asked if I am Muslim or Christian (the concept of 'no religion' is totally foreign here and not an option). After saying Christian, he asks 'Catholic, Protestant or All Sorts'. Naturally I can't resist being an 'All Sorts'.
Finally I get my security registration card and catch a taxi to Asaigh office number two about 3km away. This is another dilapidated old building and a officer leads me through narrow corridors and up to a tiny office into which five more officers are crammed. Here a pleasant officer keys my details into a computer and then gives me a clearance. This piece of paper I have to take to yet another office, again packed with about 10 officers where I get a letter to take back to immigration. They are just about to have lunch and are very insistent I join them, but I know if I have lunch I will run late at immigration.
Finally back, getting my residency visa is a quick and cheap (8,000 dinar/$8).
I doubt if the process is any less complicated in New Zealand, but at least here you can get it down very quickly. So within 24 hours I go from Overstayer to Resident.
Not too many NZers can say they have been an illegal immigrate in Iraq. :)))
Love this story Peter, your experiences are so entertaining.
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