Iraq Ends Visa on Arrival: Advance Approval Is Now Mandatory Before You Fly

Travellers can no longer obtain a visit visa on arrival in federal Iraq. Entry permission must be arranged in advance, and the practical consequence is a denied-boarding risk for anyone who has travelled on the old basis.

What the rule now is
An electronic visa must be obtained before travel, through the Iraqi government's system, and it must be in place at least 24 hours before departure.

The authorisation is valid for 60 days.

The federal Iraq / Kurdistan Region distinction
This is the detail most write-ups get wrong, and getting it wrong in either direction causes problems.

The end of visa on arrival applies to federal Iraq: Baghdad, Basra, and the rest of the country under federal administration.

The Kurdistan Region operates a separate immigration regime and continues to offer visa on arrival at its own ports of entry.

Two things follow. A traveller flying into Erbil or Sulaymaniyah is on different rules from one flying into Baghdad. And a permission valid for one is not automatically valid for the other: travellers planning to move between the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq need to confirm what their document actually covers before they travel internally.

The onward ticket requirement
Applicants must be able to show a return or onward ticket. Without one, there is a real risk of being refused boarding by the airline before the question of Iraqi immigration ever arises.

This catches business travellers with open-ended plans and journalists or contractors whose departure date is genuinely uncertain. The requirement is for a ticket, not an intention.

Why the denied-boarding risk is the real story
Airlines verify documentation at check-in against shared industry data. A passenger who arrives at the airport expecting to obtain permission on landing will not be carried, because the airline bears the cost and the penalty if the destination refuses them.

For anyone who has previously entered Iraq on arrival (and that includes a lot of regular business travellers), the change is easy to miss precisely because the old process was so frictionless.

The 24-hour rule is a minimum, not a target
Applying 24 hours before departure satisfies the stated rule but leaves no room for anything going wrong. A query on the application, a document issue, or a system problem inside that window leaves no time to resolve it.

Anyone travelling to Iraq should treat the 24-hour figure as the absolute floor and plan on days rather than hours.

What to do
Confirm which part of Iraq you are entering and which rules apply.

Arrange your permission well before the 24-hour minimum.

Hold a return or onward ticket before you attempt to check in.

And if your itinerary crosses between the Kurdistan Region and federal Iraq, verify that your documentation covers both legs.

Verified against UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office entry requirement guidance for Iraq, current as at July 2026.