I came to Kuwait on a tourist visa sponsored by my husband. I am pregnant and now my tourist visa has expired but my Ob won’t allow me to travel because I was admitted in a hospital twice for early contractions, My condition is not good and anytime now I will give birth. The Immigration Dept has rejected my application for extension. What can I do now?

Name withheld
Answer: It’s obvious that the clerk at the Immigration office didn’t understand your wife’s condition.
You should ask your doctor to give you a letter asking you not to travel. Get it attested by the Ministry of Health and also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait. Then go and see an officer, and not a clerk, at the Immigration Dept in your area. Explain the situation to him. We are sure that he will extend your visa.
It is also up to you to decide whether to risk your wife’s and your child’s life and allow them to travel against the doctor’s advice.
Please remember that as your wife is on temporary residence from the second month of the visit visa, the fine will only be KD 2 per day.
Secondly, although you will not be able to get a visa for your child, you can take the baby out of the country — with permission of the Immigration Dept — within 60 days of birth without incurring any fine.