Kuwait: 530,000 expats yet to do mandatory biometric fingerprinting

Cairo: Around 530,000 expatriates in Kuwait have not yet undergone mandatory biometric fingerprinting less than two months before a deadline expires.

So far, 2.1 million expatriates have complied with the measure, the Kuwaiti news website Almajilis reported, quoting the Interior Ministry.

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The ministry has urged the expatriates to complete the fingerprinting before the December 31 deadline to avoid having their government and banking transactions halted. The expats, who miss the deadline, will not be able to have their iqamas or residency permits renewed, the report said.

Earlier this year, Kuwait extended a deadline for expatriates and citizens to undergo biometric fingerprinting and stressed importance of compliance. For Kuwaitis, the deadline expired on September 30.

Authorities said citizens whose government and banking transactions have been suspended can go to the identity verification departments of the General Department of Criminal Evidence across Kuwait and undergo fingerprinting. Upon completion of the procedure, the ban on transactions will be automatically lifted.

In a facilitating step, Kuwaiti authorities have introduced a home biometrics service for the elderly and ill people, who are unable to head to the outdoor centres.

Kuwaiti officials have repeatedly underlined the importance of the biometric fingerprinting system, calling it a "state project" aimed to provide a database about everyone in the country. It is obligatory for the people aged 18 or above.

The project is envisaged to help put an end to passport forgery and double citizenship that is banned in Kuwait. Foreigners constitute 3.3 million of Kuwait’s population of 4.9 million.