Kuwait: No expat exempted from decision to renew driving licenses for one year
Streamlined online renewal process prompts one-year limit for expat driving licenses
Dubai: No expat in Kuwait will be exempted from the recently issued decision restricting the renewal of driving licenses to a one-year period.
However, only sons and spouses of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis and Article 20 visa holders are still eligible for a three-year driving license.
According to a security source, the one-year renewal policy applies as long as the expat’s job position remains the same and extends to driving licenses issued before 2013.
The decision to implement a one-year validity period was made to streamline the renewal process, as licenses can now be easily renewed online. This change aims to simplify license management while maintaining control over expats’ driving privileges in the country.
Earlier this month, Kuwait’s traffic sector said it has stopped renewing driving licenses for 3 years. According to General Department of Traffic sources, licenses can now be renewed online for only one year.
The sources stated the suspension of renewing licenses for 3 years comes after it was discovered that some expatriates renewed the license for 3 years and then changed the profession, indicating that in the event that the expatriate continues in the same profession, the license is renewed without any obstacles, but in the event of a change in the profession, the procedures followed are taken.
In the past, expats’ driving licenses had a validity of up to 10 years, later it was linked to the residence and reduced to one year. Till April 25, 2023 expats were allowed to renew licenses for 3 years.