Under new mechanism visitor should depart Kuwait immediately on expiry of visa

KUWAIT CITY, June 28: The Ministry of Interior, on its Twitter account said, upon directives from the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Lieutenant-General (Rtd.) Sheikh Ahmed Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah, has issued a decision to stop issuing family and tourist visit visas with immediate effect until further notice. The ministry said this is done because the Residence Affairs Department of the ministry is in the process of introducing what it called ‘a new mechanism’.

Expatriates who entered Kuwait on tourist and family visas in past months and have not left the country despite their visas having expired, thus increasing visa violators to 20,000. This decision does not include e-visas that are granted directly to some nationalities at the airport.  

The number of expats who entered Kuwait on tourist and family visas in 2022 reached about 70,000, reports Al Rai. The new mechanism will implement controls and guarantee visitors departure immediately upon expiry of visa, no 3 months extension will be granted.

The coordination between the Ministry of Interior and the Public Authority of Manpower will tighten issuing work visas and will grant work permits as per the market needs in order to preserve demographics.  The new mechanism will grant broad powers to directors of residency affairs departments in the six governorates to ease the pressure of visa applicants on the Residency Affairs department.