Kuwait extends grace period for residency law violators

KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry has announced the extension of the grace period given to residency law violators for two month ending April 22nd.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah issued Tuesday the ministerial decree No. 192/2018 offering general amnesty to residency law violators who leave the country during the period between February 23 to April 22, the Ministry said in a press statement.

As per the decree, expatriates who do not have valid visa could leave the country during the specified period without paying penalties or fines stipulated by the Amiri decree No. 71/1959, the statement explained.

It, however, noted that this amnesty did not apply to violators who entered Kuwait after the issuance of this decree.

The extension comes within the framework of the Interior Ministry leadership's humanitarian approach for facilitating procedures for expatriates in the county, the statement argued.

Last month, the Interior Ministry issued a decree granting a general amnesty to expatriates living in Kuwait without valid visas.

The amnesty runs between January 29 and February 22, 2018. It was expected to benefit nearly 130,000 expatriates in violation of residency laws.

The amnesty decree (no. 64/2018) gave illegal residents two options - they can either leave the country during the abovementioned period through any port without getting permission from any authority and without paying any penalties; or they can legalize their status and continue residing in Kuwait after paying all fines and obtaining a valid visa without being referred to the investigation department.

The decree also stipulated that those who leave the country during this amnesty period are allowed to enter Kuwait again if they meet the regular conditions of entry and if they were not banned for another reason.