Cairo: A decentralised facilitated system allowing foreign teachers in Kuwait to have their iqamas or residency permits renewed will go into effect next week, according to a local newspaper.
The Education Ministry has prepared for transferring authority to renew non-Kuwaiti teachers’ iqamas from the ministry’s general directorate to education departments starting from Sunday, Al Qabas reported.
Employees at education departments in the country have been trained to handle the mission, the paper quoted what it described as well-informed sources.
“This measure will help ease pressure on the ministry,” they added.
“Decentralisation of iqama renewal will also contribute to smooth work and undelayed conducting of transactions at a time when [foreign] teachers, want to travel to their home countries to spend the summer holiday,” the sources said.
A Kuwaiti education official has recently disclosed a plan to grant expatriate teachers iqamas for two years instead of the current one year.
“The Interior Ministry has expressed readiness to approve [the extension], but requested coordination with the Health Ministry about teachers’ health insurance,” Rajaa Bouarki, the Education Ministry’s assistant undersecretary for administrative affairs, told Al Rai newspaper earlier this month.
“The Interior Ministry has agreed to increase access numbers for education employees to log onto its system and conduct transactions,” she added.
No official figures have been provided about the number of expatriate teachers who will benefit from the new system.
Foreigners make up nearly 3.4 million of Kuwait’s overall population of 4.6 million.
