Visa requirements for Iraqi citizens

Iraqi citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Iraq and 3 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

6 countries ask holders of the Iraqi passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Iraq without one: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

The reverse holds for 26 countries: holders of the Iraqi passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Iraq (Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti and 21 others).

112 countries ask holders of the Iraqi passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 39 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Iraq.

73 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Iraq, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Iraq, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Iran (13), Israel (8), Kuwait (4) and Syria (3).

The United States refused 40% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Iraq in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 122 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 74 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Schengen consulates in Iraq refused 34% of short-stay visa applications in 2025 (all Schengen consulates worldwide: 15%). Among the 74 countries where they received at least 10,000 applications, that is the 16th highest rate. The figure counts every nationality applying there, not only citizens.

Visa-free travel with the Iraqi passport

By continent, the Iraqi passport is visa-free in 3 countries in Africa, 2 countries in Asia, 2 countries in the Americas and 1 country in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Iraqi citizens are allowed in Haiti (90 days), the Seychelles (90 days), Zambia (90 days), Micronesia (30 days), Iran (30 days) and Malaysia (30 days).

Visa on arrival

Iraqi citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea-Bissau, Laos and 12 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Iraqi citizens enter Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Benin and 50 others. Ivory Coast, Kenya and Suriname ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Iraq’s neighbours

Iran admits Iraqi citizens without a visa. For the other neighbours, the rules are: Syria (e-Visa), Saudi Arabia (e-Visa), Jordan (visa required), Turkey (visa required) and Kuwait (visa required).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Turkish passport ranks 86th (112 destinations), the Kuwaiti passport ranks 96th (97 destinations), the Saudi passport ranks 99th (87 destinations), the Jordanian passport ranks 165th (50 destinations) and the Iranian passport ranks 186th (40 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 3 can enter visa-free, 6 get a visa on arrival, 188 need an e-Visa and 1 is not admitted for Iraq.