Can I extend the family visit visa, currently valid for 1 month, for my mother. And if not, can I transfer her to a tourist visa — valid for 3 months — even though she has already entered Kuwait. Finally what are requirements that I need to fulfill to get a tourist visa for my mother.

Name withheld

Answer: Please remember family visit visas for the immediate family — spouse and children — are for three months while for other family members these are for one month only.

The Interior Ministry has stressed a number of times that the family visit visas can neither be extended nor can these be transferred to any other type of visa. So, simply put, your mother will have to leave the country and come again – at a later date – on a new visit visa.

Please also remember that, according to Kuwait law, you can apply for a new visit visa only six months after the visitor’s departure from the country. Well, that’s the law but sometimes – only on issuance of new visit visas – the Immigration Department does bend the rules a little on compassionate grounds.

Copyright © ARAB TIMES – KUWAIT