COVID-19: Kuwait extends deadline for illegal expats

Cairo: Kuwait has extended a grace period given to illegal expatriate residents to modify their status for yet another month, ending recent conflicting media reports about the deadline extension.

A month-long grace for illegal residents is due to expire today. Interior Minister Thamer Al Ali has issued a decree extending the grace running until the end of January, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Qabas.

The extension comes as a new chance for the illegal residents and is meant to facilitate things for them, according to the report.

Kuwait plans to resume international flights on Saturday after it suspended them and closed its land and sea borders from December 21 to January 1, 2021 to prevent the spread of a new strain of COVID-19.

The latest decree stipulates that any illegal resident, who fails to readjust his/her status during the new grace period will face penalties. “The violator will not be permitted residence, deported from the country and will not be allowed to return,” the decree said, according to Al Qabas

Illegal residents registered at the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry are estimated at 186,000 from different nationalities. The virus-related restrictions have increased their numbers.

Earlier this month, Kuwait extended by one month a deadline for illegal residents to legalise their status after it was originally due to expire on November 30. The Gulf country has repeatedly extended the grace period for residency violators over this year.