The Ministry of Interior has expressed plans to process the renewal of expats’ residency permits on-line by next year, whereas an initial trial for the on-line renewal domestic workers under the citizens’ sponsorship will be prioritized.
As per the IT Department of the Ministry of Interior, an online filing system has already been finalized which will receive uploaded documents, and signed undertakings. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Interior has been recognized in having the best electronic passport (ePassport) in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
MoI Plans to Digitize Expat Residency Permits in Kuwait by Next Year
Many countries have already adopted electronic IDs (eIDs) for several reasons. Besides the fact that government-issued IDs are considered as classified documents which would extremely benefit from the new documents’ high security printing features to eliminate the risk of fraud, the digitalization of national IDs would also pave the way to more secure and dependable online services in the future.
The eIDs or “smart cards” will be of great importance for its use as smart travel documents bearing the owner’s electronic signature, municipal and social security cards, as well as “key” or access cards to business establishments as well as other “secure areas”.
With Kuwait’s current technology and expertise in high security printing, it’s only a matter of time before citizens – both expats and nationals will reap the benefits of this new program to be laid out by the government.
According to sources, linkages have been established between the labour ministry and social affairs, and the health ministry with the residency affairs and forensics department for the said program.
Currently, discussions are being held as to whether the residency permit sticker should be printed, or if a new residency ID shall instead be used with the ID holder’s digital information stored in it. In similar news, the renewal of driving license will be done online starting June 1.