British Embassy Affirms That Kuwaitis Can Avail Of E-visa Exemption Online Two Days Before Travel

An official source at the British Embassy confirmed that providing visa services in Kuwait for citizens and expats is continuing, pointing out that the Visa Center located in the Arraya Tower continues to receive requests for visas of all types for those wishing to travel to Britain, Al Qabas daily reported.

In a statement to Al-Qabas, the official indicated that citizens of Kuwait, Oman, UAE, and Qatar are exempt from going to the Visa Center, and can submit visa applications online on the condition that they submit 48 hours before their trip to the United Kingdom, where the applicant from these countries will fill out the form and pay the fees. The visa would be sent via his own e-mail, and then printed before travel so he can embark on the plane.

The official pointed out that the e-visa exemption can be obtained instead of the UK visa if the applicant is a citizen of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, or the UAE. The e-visa exemption allows the person to visit the United Kingdom for up to 6 months for tourism, business, short-term study, or treatment, noting that the e-visa exemption is only valid for one visit and the exemption cannot be used for work or civil marriage and a separate application must be submitted online for each traveling person, including children.

On how to obtain the e-visa exemption, he explained that it is different from obtaining a regular UK visa, the applicant will only need to fill out the online form without having to visit the visa application center but has to confirm their current passport and UK residence address as well as details of his flight to and from the United Kingdom (including the dates and times of departure and arrival and the flight number that will arrive in the United Kingdom without the flight number in the country of origin of the trip for transit travelers) and show the receipt of his visa when traveling.  For the form, there is a non-refundable £30 fee payable by debit or credit card

He stressed that Kuwait’s epidemiological classification has not changed since the beginning of the pandemic, as it is on the yellow list, so that passengers, including UK nationals, are required to show a negative covid-19 test result, to be issued within a maximum of 72 hours before departure and a second test within a maximum of two days upon arrival, in addition to an additional check-up on the eighth day.

The official stressed that all travelers must adhere to the quarantine of 10 days, pointing out that travelers from the list of “yellow countries” including Kuwait are allowed to adhere to the quarantine at home/place of residence, and have the option to reduce the quarantine period to five days only provided that the test result is negative on the fifth day.

“Passengers will have to pay for the screening and book the test appointment themselves at one of the government-approved health facilities,” he added, noting that most passengers must fill out the public health locator form for passengers within 48 hours of arrival.

The source warned the penalty for violators of quarantine procedures, and in the event of intentionally providing false or misleading information, the passenger may be fined or imprisoned, indicating that a fine of up to 10,000 pounds or imprisonment for up to ten years or both.

“If a passenger arrives in England without proving that the test is negative, he may be fined £500, if he does not take the tests on day two and day eight, he may face a fine of up to £2,000, and he may not need to take the second test if he gets a positive result for the first test.”

The source added that when a traveler arrives in England, he must go directly to his place of residence, and leave only after 10 days, pointing out that the quarantine period starts from the day of arrival in England and continues for 10 consecutive full days after the day of arrival until 11:59 pm on the tenth day.

He noted that the new testing and tracking system developed by the National Health Service will communicate with the traveler immediately upon arrival to ensure that he complies with the rules of isolation during quarantine.

 

SOURCE  :   TIMES KUWAIT

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