Lower House approves amendments to residency, foreigners' affairs draft law

AMMAN — The Lower House on Wednesday approved amendments to the residency and foreigners' affairs draft law.

The amendments, approved during a session chaired by Lower House Speaker Ahmad Safadi and attended by Cabinet members, will take effect 90 days after publication in the Official Gazette, including significant changes to the 1973 law. 

Lawmakers approved setting fines at JD200 for violations of Articles 11 and 14 of the law, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the session, MPs noted that the cost of detaining residency violators exceeds the cost of deportation.

Head of the Chamber's Legal Committee Mustafa Amawi said that increased fines for foreign labour violations would not apply to Gaza residents, who will face a reduced fine of JD10, as agreed with Labour Minister Khaled Bakkar.

Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Abdul Monem Odat stressed that the law represents state sovereignty and border control.

"The state has the right to know who enters its borders, their destination, and place of residence," he said.

Odat noted that the amendments were not primarily about increasing residence fees but rather updating a 50-year-old law whose original provisions no longer served their intended purpose.

The amendments were deemed necessary after observations showed that most foreigners entering the Kingdom legally failed to submit personal status declarations within specified periods.

Hotel managers often failed to report foreign guests' information to authorities within legal timeframes, with existing penalties proving insufficient as deterrents.