The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) promulgated new country guidance on Iraq on 14 April 2026. It replaces all existing Iraq guidance and covers identity documents, return routes and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Replaces SMO & KSP (Civil status documentation; article 15) Iraq CG [2022] UKUT 00110 (IAC) ("SMO2").
The Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) decided AH, AK & AJ (Identity documentation; returns to the KRI) Iraq CG [2026] UKUT 00150 (IAC) on 14 April 2026, after a hearing on 15 to 18 September 2025 and further written submissions on 24 and 31 October 2025. The panel was Upper Tribunal Judges Lane, Jackson and Rastogi. The decision states that it replaces all existing country guidance on Iraq.
Sections A, D and E remain substantively unchanged from SMO2. Sections B and C have been updated.
Return routes (section B). Until September 2025, former residents of the KRI were returned to the KRI and all other Iraqis to Baghdad. An agreement dated 19 August 2025 would allow former residents of the Disputed Territories to be returned to Erbil or Sulaymaniyah airports, but it had not been used as at September 2025. The Secretary of State must specify the location of return (paragraph 7). An Iraqi national can be returned only with a current or expired Iraqi passport or a laissez-passer (paragraph 8).
Identity documents (section C). The Civil Status Identity Document (CSID) is no longer issued or valid in Iraq. It has been replaced by the biometric Iraqi Nationality Identity Document (INID), which is generally necessary to live and travel in Iraq without Article 3 ECHR treatment (paragraphs 11 and 12). The INID application needs bio-data taken in person. The standard documents are a CSID, an Iraqi Nationality Card and a residence card, but the absence of one or more is not fatal (paragraphs 14 and 15). The tribunal finds that a completely undocumented person with no recall of their Family Book details and no male relatives in Iraq is unlikely to apply successfully through the Iraqi Embassy in London (paragraph 21D).
Arrival in the KRI (paragraphs 22A to 22H). People returned without a CSID or INID are not prevented from leaving Erbil or Sulaymaniyah airports. They receive an authorisation letter valid for five days, in which to return to their home area and start redocumentation. Travel from these airports to a home area within the same governorate, or from Erbil to Dohuk, is likely to be possible without Article 3 risk where the person has an airport document, some identification, or help from a family member, local Mukhtar or official. Travel to the Disputed Territories is different, because many checkpoints in Federal Iraq are manned by Shia militia unlikely to let a person without a CSID or INID pass (paragraph 22H).
What this means for applicants
Protection and human rights appeals involving return to Iraq will now be assessed against this guidance in place of SMO2. Whether a person has, or can obtain, an INID, and which airport they would be returned to, are central to that assessment. The guidance also says a claim cannot succeed on the basis of risk arising from lacking a passport or laissez-passer if return is not feasible for lack of those documents (paragraph 9).
Related guide
Sources
- [AH, AK & AJ (Identity documentation; returns to the KRI) Iraq CG [2026] UKUT 00150 (IAC), Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), 14 April 2026](https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukut/iac/2026/150)