Children of Kuwaiti women to receive permanent residency permits

Kuwait City: Kuwait’s Women and Family parliamentary committee announced it has approved a draft law allowing children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis to receive permanent residency.

In addition, one of the committee’s members, MP Osama Al Shaheen, said they will be given priority in employment after Kuwaitis and will be treated as Kuwaitis in ministries.

While the law is a step in the right direction for children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, some have pointed out that it is not enough. According to article 29 of the Kuwaiti constitution, all people are equal in the eyes of the law and rights and that there should be no differentiation amongst them because of gender, origin, language or religion.

Children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaiti men face challenges from applying for a scholarship to obtaining a job. The government covers their education up to university level, plus their health care.

Kuwait is one of the 25 countries that does not permit women to pass on their nationality to their children or spouses.

As of 2016, there are 19,000 Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaiti men and with approximately 56,000 children, according to the Public Authority for Civil Information.