By Xinhua,
Amman : Jordan has approved about 17,000 Iraqis’ entry in less than three months, local daily Jordan Times reported on Sunday.
Minister of Interior Eid Fayez said the ministry has received a total of 9,489 visa applications between April 22 and July 9, involving a total of 27,817 Iraqis wishing to visit the kingdom.
Among them, 17,054 were allowed entry and 6,009 denied, said the minister, adding that the remaining applications are still undergoing examination.
Moreover, the ministry rejected a recent report claiming that Amman authorities would no longer issue or extend residency permits to Iraqis who are resident in the kingdom legally or illegally.
Fayez said the international courier TNT Post’s offices in Iraq, with which the Jordanian government has cooperated to handle Iraqi visa applications, are still receiving applications from Iraqis, adding that it takes between three to four weeks to respond to the application.
The escalation of violence in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion has raised the number of Iraqis fleeing to Jordan to over 750,000,according to UN figures.