Iraqis encounter passport roadblocks

Iraqis encounter passport roadblocks
New rules have thrust millions into a nightmare of red tape at a time when many are desperate to flee.
By Tina Susman, Times Staff Writer
May 13, 2007

BAGHDAD — Long before the sun had risen or the mosques had called the faithful to predawn prayers on a cold morning in early February, Abu Hussein Allawchi, his wife and their two small children were awake. They were about to embark on a nightmarish mission: getting new passports.

By 5 a.m., they were out of the house. By 6 a.m., they were in line outside the main passport office, the only place to get the application forms.

When the gate opened two hours later, there was a frantic rush to enter the building and reach the window where applications are handed out. Guards' attempts to form lines were futile.

"It was so difficult just to get inside the building," Allawchi said. "The crowds were terrible."

...

Now the noose has tightened again.

The United States announced in January that it would no longer accept the hastily crafted S passports, with their pasted-on photographs and handwritten information. Instead, all Iraqis coming to the United States must show G-series passports, which were introduced by the Iraqi government about a year ago and meet international anti-forgery and other security standards. European and most Middle Eastern countries have done the same.