‘No decision taken yet to issue visit visas’

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 25: On expatriates without a university degree and are above 60 years old, the source revealed the Residency Affairs Sector has granted a grace period for this segment until the proposed fees are approved; indicating it is allowed to grant an extension of up to six months.

The Residency Affairs Sector in the Interior Ministry has no power to issue visit visas to any category like it did before the emergence of coronavirus, reports Al-Anba daily quoting a source from the security sector. The source clarified that at present, the Residency Affairs Committee is the only entity authorized to grant visit visas to the family members of expatriates who hold the following visas: Article 22 (dependent visa), Article 18 (private sector work visa) and Article 17 (government sector work visa). The source added the ministry will issue an entry permit once the visit visa application is approved, indicating the application is entered into the joint automated system for the approval of the committee. The source reiterated that no decision has been issued yet for the Residency Affairs Sector to grant visit visas; hence, this remains the task of the committee until further notice.

The source also affirmed that the ministry gave the Residency Affairs Sector the authority to grant entry visas to foreign women who are currently abroad and are married to citizens, as well as the children of Kuwaiti women married to foreigners. The source went on to say that a directive was issued to allow the transfer of commercial visit visas to work permits. The source disclosed the Residence Affairs Sector has granted Article 24 (self-sponsorship) visas to 3,800 expatriates -- mostly Syrians -- in the last few months. The source added that the absence permits are renewed automatically without the need for the sponsors to visit the Residency Affairs departments, confirming the absence permit is automatically renewed whenever the sponsor renews the residence permit on the ministry’s website.