(dpa) - The Jordanian government on Thursday decided to exempt Iraqi nationals wishing to leave the country permanently from accumulated residence fines.
Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez also announced that Iraqi refugees wishing to stay should rectify their residency status within two months and would have their fines slashed in half.
He said that Iraqis who planned to leave Jordan with the intention to return to the country or newcomers would have to obtain an entry visa from offices that would soon open inside Iraq.
The entry visa for Iraqis was introduced in response to a request by the Iraqi authorities.
According to a survey conducted recently by the Norwegian research foundation, Fafo, about 500,000 Iraqis have fled their country to Jordan seeking safety after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
The vast majority of Iraqi refugees are believed to be living in the country illegally because they have overstayed their visas, official sources said.
Jordanian Planning Minster Suhair al-Ali said earlier this week that Iraqi refugees cost the country's treasury more than 2 billion dollars over the past three years.