Kuwait City: Kuwait has completed around 3.1 million residency permit transactions online since it launched the system in June 2020, the Ministry of Interior has announced.
In a statement, the ministry said that while the system is meant for everything to be done online, they have provided around one million appointments online for people to complete their procedure.
As for cancelled residency permits, more that 38,000 expats had their visas cancelled as they were stuck outside the country unable to renew it.
Expats whose residency visas are expired will not be able to return to Kuwait unless their employers renew their permits or they enter on a new visa.
The renewal process can be done online, giving those outside Kuwait the ability to do it without any issues. As for new visas, the Ministry of Interior stopped issuing new visas since the pandemic began a year and a half ago.
Leaving Kuwait for good
In January, the Public Authority for Manpower published a report that showed that around 12 expatriates are leaving the Kuwaiti job market every hour, local media reported.
The reasons for their departure differ, but most commonly it is due to expired residency permits that haven’t been renewed or expats leaving Kuwait indefinitely.
Since the start of the pandemic, many people have lost their jobs or received incomplete wages. Several businesses have closed down therefore resulting in mass unemployment across different sectors.
While some are leaving Kuwait for economic reasons, others have stated that they feel Kuwait is no longer home thus traveling back to their home countries. In addition, many have pointed out that the constantly changing labour laws are creating instability and making it hard for many to plan long term.
