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The residence card is one of the main and important documents that are required in official governmental processes, as it is an official document that specifies the place of residence of the family and is issued in the name of the head of the household exclusively.

 

What are the documents I will need to obtain the residence card?

  • Recent colored photos of the head of household.
  • The old residence card (for example: could be the residence card of the father), original and colored copy.
  • The ration card, original and colored copy.
  • The unified national card or civil status card of the head of household, original and colored copy.
  • The unified national card or civil status card of all the members of the family, original and colored copy.
  • Iraqi citizenship certificate of the head of household, original and colored copy.
  • The residence letter was obtained from the mayor’s office.

Note: If you have a child who does not have a civil status ID or a unified national card, you can present the original and a copied birth certificate.

 

What are the Procedures required to obtain a new residence card?

  1. Obtain a residence letter from the community leader (Mukhtar) in your residential area. Sign in by 2 witnesses. A copy of the witnesses’ ID cards must be included within the letter. Then you need to stamp the letter by the Mayor’s office and address it to the Central Information office in your area of ​​residence.
  2. With the documents mentioned above, visit the Central Information office in your area of ​​residence.
  3. Then, visit the data entry/check room to check and verify the documents, and make sure that there are no missing copies,
  4. You will then be directed to another employee to submit the completed file to verify and match the original documents with the copies provided.
  5. After that, you will need to give the verified file to a committee office in the same building. Then you will be asked to come back after the processing of your file is completed at a specified date.
  6. In case of issues in the application or missing documents, you will be directed to the correction room to solve the issue.
  7. After receiving a stamped letter from the Central Information office, address the information office of the police station in your residential area to obtain the new residence card with the name of the head of household.
  8. When you visit the Information Office at the police station in your residential area, bring the original and colored copies of all the documents mentioned above, original and colored copies
  9. The photo provided by the head of household will be used in the issued residence card, then you will need to pay the official fees (estimated 2,500 Iraqi Dinars) to obtain the residence card on a specific day or hours later within the same day depending on the queue.

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What if I need to renew the information on my residence card?

In case you need to update the information in the residence card and you didn’t change your residence, you will need the following steps:

  1. The head of the household should visit the Information Office at the police station in his/her residential area, taking the following documents:
  • The civil status card or the unified national card for the head of the household and all family members (for example, wife, sons, and daughters), original and colored copies.
  • The Iraqi citizenship certificate of the head of household only, the original and colored copy.
  • The ration card, original and colored copy.
  • Two recent colored photos of the head of the household, one to be used on the residence card and the other to be placed on the records at the Information Office at the police station. (It is preferable to take more than two photos in case needed).
  • The old residence card of the head of household (Original only).
  1. You will be asked to re-visit on a specific day or hours later within the same day (depending on the queue at the Information Office).

Note: This process does not require a letter from the Central Information office, because it is already documented in the registration file during the residence card application for the first time. Therefore, the renewal process only occurs at the Information Office at the police station. But it is preferable to have a colored copy for the letter of the Central Information Office in case it was requested for a double check purpose.

 

What are the procedures needed if I lost or damaged my residence cards?

  1. Submit a report at the police station in the residential area of the head of the household.
  2. After submitting the report, the investigative judge will refer the request to take the person's testimony regarding the lost or damaged residence card.
  3. The judge then approves the decision (in case the residence card was lost, the judge will generalize a statement to all police stations in the city to report if the document was found in any of the stations)
  4. You will be asked to revisit the court after a specified period by the judge, then the judge will approve the request and refers you to the community leader (Mukhtar).
  5. Then you will need to visit the Information Office at the police station in your residence area, taking with you all the documents mentioned above.
  6. You will be asked to re-visit on a specific day or hours later within the same day (depending on the queues at the Information Office).

Note: It is preferable to have a clear colored copy of the lost/damaged residence card to be presented when initiating the process at the Information Office in case needed.

 

Can a divorced or widowed woman obtain a residence card on her own?

Yes, and she will need the following documents:

  • The previous residence card in the name of her ex-husband
  • The ration card.
  • A court decision if she was divorced, or a death certificate of her diseased husband if she was a widow.
  • These documents will be needed with the other required documents mentioned above.

My unmarried sister is living with me and my family, can she obtain a residence card?

No, the residence card is only given to married people and cannot be issued to an unmarried person who lives with a relative family.

In this case, the person can only obtain a residence letter that proves his\her place of residence with the relatives, and the residence letter will be considered as a substitute for the residence card.

 

Sources:

  1. Law No. 95 of 1978 Regulating Housing Places in Iraq, as amended
  2. The official website of the Al-Sumaria TV channel. Click here
  3. Kalema Forum. Click here

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