Lawmakers endorse amendments to residency law

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday passed the 2015 amendments to the Residency and Foreigner Affairs Law under which personal numbers will be assigned to foreigners.

Under MPs' amendments to the 1973 law, foreigners residing in the country will be given personal numbers  to regulate their entry, exit, registration, residency permits and the duration of their stay.

Lawmakers also set JD50 as the fee foreigners have to pay annually to have their residency permits renewed, disagreeing with the government, which wanted the value of fees for residency permits, visas and IDs to be set by a by-law.

The law also lists the foreigners exempted from obtaining residency permits and stiffens penalties against violators.

In response to some deputies' demand to exempt Gazans living in Jordan and Palestinians holding a temporary passport from residency permits, Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said the benefits to this segment are granted through the Labour Law and not the residency law.

Hammad told the 150-strong House that no specific category of residents in Jordan shall be exempted from residency permits, saying that such issues lie at the heart of the country's sovereignty and are of "dangerous political dimensions".

The minister also said that the Gazans enjoy special benefits, including temporary passports, adding that bearers of such special documents also include people from the West Bank, Syria and Iraq.  

Article 5 of the Residency and Foreigner Affairs Law grants the interior minister additional authority to allow the entry of foreigners from any country.