Kuwait City: Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior announced it will extend the visa violators’ grace period for one month.
For those with expired visas, the grace period does not mean they are exempt from paying fines; rather it means they will be able to amend their status in order to continue residing in Kuwait.
The grace period has been extended due to several factors, ranging from the closure of the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) throughout the past year to the disruption of flights due to lockdown measures around the world.
Grace period timeline
It has been almost a year since Kuwait initiated its first grace period, which was introduced at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The first grace period was supposed to end in May but the Ministry extended it, as governmental agencies remained shut, therefore announcing that expats were permitted to extend their residency permits and visit visas for another three months, until end of August.
A third grace period was announced, which was intended to end on November 30, but then a few days before the planned date the Ministry pushed the deadline to December 31.
Thamer Al Ali, at the time the newly appointed Minister of Interior, announced at the end of December that the deadline has been pushed until January 31 and urged all residents to renew their status before the date. Before the grace period was supposed to end in January, the Minister issued a decision to extend the deadline to March 2.
