KUWAIT CITY, May 31: Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad announced recently that Kuwait will resume the issuance of visas for Pakistanis, reports Al-Rai daily. In 2011, Kuwait suspended the issuance of visas for the nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan citing the difficult security conditions in these countries. The Pakistani interior minister’s announcement came ahead of Kuwaiti Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah’s arrival in Islamabad where he will be on a two day official visit starting from Thursday at the invitation of Pakistani Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “I am going to give you good news from Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government … Kuwaiti visas are going to be opened again. Visas to Kuwait have been closed since 2011 and now they will be reissued,” Ahmad told reporters. In November last year, the Kuwaiti foreign affairs minister met with Qureshi on the sidelines of the 47th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers in Niamey, Niger.

“The two foreign affairs ministers agreed to work closely to further strengthen and expand bilateral cooperation in diverse fields,” the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Office revealed in a statement ahead of Sheikh Ahmad Nasser’s visit. The office added: “Pakistan accords high importance to its fraternal ties with Kuwait, which are firmly rooted in shared faith and value. During the global pandemic, the two countries collaborated closely in the health sector and food security.” Pakistan said it is ready to provide skilled workers for the labor sector in Kuwait after the meeting of Pakistani Ambassador to Kuwait Syed Sajjad Haider and Kuwait’s Public Authority for Manpower Director General Ahmad Al-Mousa in January 2021.

In July 2020, Pakistan and Kuwait signed a government-to-government agreement for 600 Pakistani health care professionals to work in Kuwait as per the latter’s request to help the local medical practitioners deal with the rising coronavirus infection and death rates. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education continues to renew online the residence permit of its employees, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, reports Al-Jarida daily.

In this context, the Education Ministry yesterday renewed the residence permit of a number of employees with the after the administrative sector received requests from male and female employees for the renewal of their residence permits “online” – the service that is linked with the Ministry of Interior. Education sources told the daily the residence renewal process is easy and the service provider must submit a request to renew the residence after booking an appointment with the ministry.

The renewal of residence and payment of fees is done through electronic devices without any direct contact with the employees who have been designated by the administrative sector to accomplish this task. The sources stated the residence renewal process continues until the last transaction is completed, as it is expected that the renewal of all residence permits for the service implementers will be completed within two weeks, pointing out that the residence renewal processes for teachers and administrators are also continuing through the online system.