Kuwait: Illegal expats urged to legalise status
Month-long grace period given to unlawful residents
Cairo: Kuwaiti authorities have urged illegal expatriates and holders of temporary residency permits to take advantage of a new grace period to legalise their status and warned violators of legal action.
The Interior Ministry said that illegal residents, who fail to apply for legalisation during the grace period, will be liable to legal procedures, including immediate deportation and a ban on return to Kuwait.
Illegal residents, who want to leave Kuwait, must pay specified fines to get a departure notice that allows them to return to the country when they want, according to the ministry.
Holders of temporary residency permits are required to leave Kuwait before the expiry of their stay on November 30 or apply for readjusting their status in line with related terms before the deadline.
The ministry pointed out that holders of such residency permits, who fail to readjust their status before the deadline, will be liable to a violation of the foreigners’ residency law in the country and will face legal action including deportation, the ministry said.
No official figures were given on the numbers of illegal residents in Kuwait, which has in recent months sought to redress its demographic imbalance amid an outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic.