Iraq to stop using old IDa from March 2024

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Ministry of Interior on Wednesday announced that it will stop using old identification documents starting from March 2024.

The ministry said that the only valid identification document will be the new national ID card.

Minister of Interior Abdul Amir al-Shammari said that the ministry has set March 1, 2024 as the deadline for the implementation of the decision. He urged the concerned departments to prepare for the large numbers of people expected to apply for the national ID card.

The Iraqi government launched the national ID card project in 2015 as a replacement for the old identification documents that were used under the previous regime of Saddam Hussein.

The old documents are: the civil status card, the citizenship certificate, the residence card, and the food card.

The project aims to create a central database of all Iraqis and to issue them with unified national ID cards that will be used in all official transactions with state institutions.

The project has been delayed at times due to technical problems and a shortage of raw materials caused by delays in payment of financial dues to the company contracted with the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. However, the problems have been resolved recently and the process is now running smoothly in civil status departments, according to officials.