Syria: The third worst passport in the world new electronic version not recognized by several countries
Local sources in the Syrian capital, Damascus revealed that, the recently issued Syrian electronic passport hasn’t been accepted by many countries and embassies.
According to Syrian local media, owners of tourism offices in Damascus said that Erbil (Iraq-Kurdistan), Dubai, and European countries haven’t yet accepted the electronic passport that was issued recently, explaining that they have no knowledge of when this thorny issue will be resolved, which has caused delays in the travel of many people.
At the moment only few countries such as Egypt, the Sultanate of Oman, and Jordan have accepted the new Syrian electronic passport.
According to sources in Damascus, the reason behind the problem is the failure to complete coordination between Syria and the embassies of countries around the world and in order to officially notify them of the adoption of the new electronic passport, since those who hold the old Syrian passport aren’t facing problems to use it.
The issuance of electronic passports began on August 20, and its issuance didn’t cancel the regular passport, which will remain valid until the end of its expiry date.
Syria recently faced problems in order to issue new passports, for the large amount of people who apply for it, in order to escape the bad circumstances in the country that was torn apart in a decade of war, due to lack ability to import supplies to issue passports from special types of paper and printing inks, due to the sanctions imposed on the country.
The Syrian passport was ranked third as the worst passport in the world, after Afghanistan and Iraq, in terms of the number of countries whose holders are allowed to enter without a visa.
According to passport index website, holders of Syrian passport has the right to enter 42 countries without visa.
Meanwhile, according to official figures of the Syrian Ministry of Interior, the Syrian passport is the second most expensive passport in the world to obtain, as the current cost is about 3 million Syrian pounds ($225 dollars), and service available only to residents inside Syria, while the cost for those abroad reaches $825 dollars.
