‘No residency permits required for Gazans with temporary passports’

AMMAN — Interior Minister Salameh Hammad on Saturday said Gazans who have a temporary Jordanian passport do not need a residency permit as their passports enable them to enter, exit or stay in the country.

Amendments to the law on residency and foreigners› affairs that are currently being discussed in Parliament will not entail any changes to their situation, Hammad added. Work permits, on the other hand, are regulated by the Labour Law, he said, noting that Gazans are exempted of work permit fees under a recent Cabinet decision, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The agency also quoted Labour Minister Nidal Katamine as confirming that holders of temporary two- and five-year passports are exempted from work permit fees. In Jordan there are around 1 million holders of temporary passports, 150,000 of whom are Gazans and the rest are Palestinians who do not have a national number after Jordan’s disengagement from the West Bank in 1989, according to official figures.