Kuwait driving licence validity reduced to one year – all you need to know about conditions you need to meet

Dubai: Earlier this week, it was reported that the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait has reduced the validity of expatriates’ driving licences from three years to one year. In the announcement, made by the traffic department in the Ministry, it was clarified that driving licences of expatriates working as domestic drivers would continue to be renewed for three years.

If you wish to apply for a driving licence in Kuwait, it is important to also know about some conditions that you need to meet, in order to get a private driving licence as an expatriate.

Here are the details.

Conditions for granting private driving licences to non-Kuwaitis

According to the Ministry of Interior in Kuwait, Ministerial decree no. 270/2020 concerning the conditions for granting private driving licences to non-Kuwaitis, requires applicants to fulfil the following conditions:

1. Have a legal residency in Kuwait for more than two years.
2. Be a university graduate and hold a degree.
3. Earn a salary of no less than Kuwaiti dinar 600.

However, the ministerial decree also provides certain exceptions to these conditions.

Exceptions

Category 1: The applications excluded from the residency, salary, and university degree categories:

1- Spouse of a Kuwaiti Citizen who bore his children (be it a widow or divorcee).
2- Spouse of Kuwaiti wife and their children.
3- Stateless members who possess a valid security card and health insurance.
4- Diplomatic members.
5- Professional club players at sport federations in governmental agencies.
6- Drivers and agents of government agencies and other general delegates who hold a valid legal driving licence in their countries or other countries.
7- Domestic workers who worked for a minimum period of two consecutive years with the same sponsor and changed their residence title to driver profession.
8- Technicians and specialists in the oil fields sectors.
9- Physiotherapists and all technicians of medical field professions.
10- Pilots, co-pilots, captains, helmsmen and guides of service vessels.
11- Morticians.
12- Housewife spouse of the below mentioned professions (who has children):

• Pilots, first officers, co-pilots, captains, helmsmen of guide vessels.
• Judges and members of the public prosecution.
• Consultants and experts.
• Faculty members in universities and applied education institutes.
• Doctors and pharmacists.
• Executives, general managers and their assistants.

Category 2: Groups which are exempted from residency requirement and minimum salary requirement, on the condition of holding a university degree:

1- Judges and members of public prosecution.
2- Consultants and experts.
3- Faculty members in universities and applied education institutes.
4- Doctors and pharmacists.
5- Journalists and reporters.
6- Engineers.
7- Veterinarians.
8- Researchers, law members, translators, teachers, social workers, librarians, mosque imams, muezzins and government employees.
9- Sport trainers in sport federations and public sector clubs.

Category 3: Groups who are exempted from residency duration, but need to meet the conditions of having a salary of over Kuwaiti dinar 600 and have a university degree:

1- Executives, General Managers and their assistants.
2- All managers.
3- All accountants.
4- Physicists, Chemists and geologist.
5- Representatives and delegates.

• Upon cancelling the residences or changing careers, the obtained driving licence of agents in public sectors and general delegate shall be cancelled and they shall not obtain a driving licence for two consecutive years. They must proceed to issue a new driving licence after that period.
• Upon changing careers to a job that is not mentioned in the decision or cancelling the residency, the driving licence shall be canceled.
• Upon changing careers to another career that is included in the decision and their exempts, the General Manager of the General Directorate of Traffic may permit the revalidation of the driving licence.
• Housewife’s licence shall be cancelled if they changed their residency or their spouse changed their career to another that is not included in the decision.
• Article (20) drivers (Drivers who are on a domestic worker visa) whose residency was cancelled for staying out of the country for more than six months (non-security or health reasons), shall be exempted, if the driver was recruited as a driver by the same sponsor or the sponsor is from first-degree relatives.