Latest News
- Ethiopian Domestic Worker Illicit Baby Dies After Birth
- 8,000 Kuwaitis Apply For French Visas In 2024 1st Quarter
- Kuwait's Medicine Shortage Raises Eyebrows
- Increases In The Prices Of Fish
- Kuwait Launched Plans For A State-of-the-art New Cancer Control...
- Work Permits Will Be Issued For One Year Under The New Mechanism...
- Crime In Egypt; Accused Arrested In Kuwait
- Kuwaiti Students Participate In The Robotics World Championship...
- The New Work Permit Mechanism Is For One Year: PAM
- Kuwait Health Minister Announces Opening Of Advanced Cancer Cont...
- Kuwait's Amir To Attend International Economic Forum In Saudi Ar...
- Man Accused Of Gruesome Crime Referred To Psychiatry For Mental...
Reminder - Residency And Passport Validity Will Be Linked From January 1st
The Director, Residency Directorate – Ministry of Information, Maj Gen Talal Ibrahim Maarafi, emphasized that beginning 1st January 2016, Residency Visas given to expatriates would be linked to the validity of their passports, which is in line with Article 12 and Article 15 of the Residency Law.
He explained that the validity of renewed residency visa would not exceed the validity of the passports’ and the residency would be cancelled the moment the passports expire. The holders are not permitted to obtain a new residency until the passports are renewed.
Maarafi further said that in cases where the expats are found with new passports or extending the validity of their old ones without notifying the immigration, or registering their new passports’ information, violators would be fined.
According to Maarafi, the grace period granted before implementing the new condition is sufficient for all to check the expiry date of their passports’ and legalize their status before going to immigration department to renew residency visas.
Last year, the Interior Ministry began implementing a 50 year old law, linking validity of Residency Iqamas to passports. Those who renewed their passports, but had not transferred the residency stamp to new ones, were fined KD2 per day, and more than 107,000 people in Kuwait were fined.
The Article 12 of Residency Law states that Iqama is valid only if the passport is valid.
"Some people renewed passports without registering at Immigration Department / Residency Affairs Department, which led to expiry of their Iqamas, and fines accumulation. Every expat should register at the Immigration Department in their governorate, as their files are there," said Col Khalid al-Kandari, Head of Legal Department for Residency at Interior Ministry.
According to Kandari, as passport expires, the Iqama expires too. Some people get new passport abroad and come back to Kuwait, show the Iqama on the old one, but, do not transfer it to the new one within a month. Those who renew their passports within Kuwait are given a two months period to transfer their data.
Some expatriates do not change the expired passports and just put up a renewal sticker in their passports which extends validity, but, in all cases, registration is a must, Kandari said.
Trending News
-
Kuwait Implements Home Biometrics Services Ahead O...
14 April 2024
-
Kuwait Airways Provides Update On Flight Schedule...
14 April 2024
-
Kuwait Airways Introduces Convenient Home Luggage...
15 April 2024
-
Expat Residency Law Amended By Kuwait Ministerial...
20 April 2024
-
Two Expats Are Arrested For Stealing From Salmiya...
17 April 2024
-
Kuwait Airways Resumes Flights To Beirut And Oman...
15 April 2024
-
Temperature Increases Cause Electricity Load Index...
21 April 2024
-
Thief Returns Stolen Money With An Apology Letter...
15 April 2024
-
3 Expats Caught In Salmiya With 213 Bottles Of Loc...
23 April 2024
-
Ministry Of Interior Denies Social Media Rumors Re...
13 April 2024
Comments Post Comment