TEHRAN – A bill approved by the cabinet of ministers to establish the national immigration organization was brought before the Majlis (the Iranian Parliament), with the aim of organizing immigrants and granting them residency.

Iran is one of the top three countries in the world in accepting immigrants from other countries, especially neighboring countries, and since our neighboring countries are generally involved in civil wars, we must have an organization to manage the related issues, MP Abolfazl Abutorabi said on Saturday.

“There are certain laws in the field of citizenship, but in the issue of residency, the last law passed in this regard is related to the year 1931,” he stated.

Through national immigration organization, we seek to organize immigrants in the country by giving them residency, and they will be obliged to pay tax, in addition, a platform is provided for immigrants to invest in the country, he noted.

Iran is hosting the world's fourth-largest refugee community. The country has generously hosted approximately 1 million refugees for the past 30 years. The majority, which mainly came from Afghanistan and Iraq, live in urban areas. Approximately 31,000 of the most vulnerable refugees are living in 20 settlements located throughout the country.

Based on the latest statistics, over 3 million Afghans are living in Iran - some 780,000 Afghan refugees, over 2 million undocumented Afghans, and another 600,000 Afghan passport-holders with Iranian visas.

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