Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents
Damascus- To support Syrian citizens and facilitate travel procedures, the Minister of the Interior Sadiq Anas KhattabOn June 26, the decision to reduce the issuance and renewal of passports according to Decree No. 119 of 2025.
The decision includes:
- Reducing the immediate passport fees inside Syria from two million pounds to 1.6 million pounds (about 160 dollars).
- Reducing the fees outside Syria from 800 to 400 dollars for the immediate passport, and from 300 to 200 dollars for the regular passport.
- A special reduction for pilgrims inside Syria to one million pounds for 2025.
The decision began immediately through the electronic platform “Alaj”, achieving a financial savings of up to 400 thousand pounds (40 dollars) internally and 400 dollars externally, with the aim of supporting pilgrims and facilitating travel for work and study.
Challenges
Muhammad Ali, an official at the Immigration and Passports Center in Damascus, confirmed to Al -Jazeera Net that the Immigration and Passports Department faced great challenges during the crisis, as it was burned and theft, which affected the workflow.
“After extensive efforts, we were able to reorganize the work and develop the platform to be the basic way to submit applications. Now, we only offer the immediate passport within SyriaAnd we are working to simplify the procedures to be more transparent and fast.
As for the Syrians abroad, they need to provide an additional residence image and evidence such as a video in front of a well -known teacher. “Our goal is to reduce the burdens on citizens, we plan to expand services to include broader categories, such as the Umrah sector,” Ali stressed.
The decision was made with a cautious welcome, amid hopes that he would represent a step within a broader path of reform.
In a statement to Al -Jazeera Net, Ramez Al -Kurdi, who is responsible for extracting passports to the Syrians and pilgrims, spoke about the challenges that faced the Syrians before and after the fall of the previous regime, and said that the extraction is especially in areas outside its control, such as IdlibAlmost impossible.
Al -Kurdi added that the citizens were forced to deal with “brokers” demanding fictional amounts of up to $ 2,500 for those who have ancient passion, and 3 thousand dollars for those who do not have. Many lost their money without obtaining it.
Even after the launch of the platform “Ajd” before the fall of the regime, according to it, the costs remained high. The urgent passport cost 1200 dollars, and the normal between 650 and 700 dollars, with a shipping fee via “DHL” and additional electronic services.
Good step
Al -Kurdi promised the new decision a good step, and pointed to a positive point in it, as the passport has become 6 years for everyone while it was about two and a half years ago for expatriates. But he made it clear that shipping fees and electronic services are still a burden. Also, many citizens, especially in rural areas, lack technical skills to use the platform, forcing them to pay additional fees for brokers.
Experts believe that the discounts are a positive step such as citizens’ use of the platform and the abolition of security approvals that reinforced the turnout, but they are not sufficient in light of the economic and logistical challenges such as shipping fees and additional services that they say remain a burden, especially on expatriates.
For his part, economist Osama Al -Abdullah welcomed the decision and explained that he helps students to provide money to extract other papers, such as study visas, and enables workers to complete travel procedures quickly. The cuts also enhance the ability of Syrian families to improve their living conditions, especially in light of the economic challenges.
He added – to Al -Jazeera Net – that the Immigration and Passports Department has taken good steps, such as canceling complex security approvals and organizing work through the “Awlz” platform, which reduced the crowding and removed the bureaucratic obstacles that delay the procedures and open the way for corruption.
He pointed out that the great turnout – after the cancellation of security studies – requires a stronger infrastructure and training for workers to ensure speed of implementation. There is also a need to educate citizens about how to use the electronic platform. He suggested reducing the ordinary passport to one million pounds and 500 thousand for pilgrims, with the addition of Umrah facilities to support religious tourism, which could revive the Syrian economy by attracting foreign currencies.
A glimmer of hope
In a statement to Al -Jazeera Net, citizen Abdel Hakim Jumaa said from Aleppo“I live under suffocating economic conditions and I see that the reduction of immediate passport is a spark of hope, but it remains out of reach for many of us. I am working in a free profession and I can barely cover the expenses of my family. This reduction, despite its importance, is still a heavy burden when we think about the costs of daily life.”
“The platform canceled the need to deal with brokers who took advantage of our suffering for years. But everyone does not know how to use it like the elderly. I wish field offices had been allocated in popular neighborhoods to help people submit their requests instead of total dependence on the Internet.”
Juma is considering traveling to work outside Syria, but the shipping fees for the urgent passport, which are added to the basic cost, make it – as he says – hesitant. He called on the government to establish local centers to deliver passports abroad instead of relying on international shipping companies.
He stressed the need of Syrian youth to “real support” and to professional training programs or soft loans that help them travel and search for job opportunities, and “not only reduce the passport fees.”