How to Check Travel Bans in Kuwait

The year-end will once again see a lot of people, typically families leaving or entering Kuwait for vacation getaways. But before you decide on where to visit next for your holiday time-off, have you considered checking if you have an existing travel ban on your records? 

If so, you might be legally arrested upon leaving or entering Kuwait at all state ports. In this article, we will talk about how you can check if you are banned from traveling to and from Kuwait.

How to Check Travel Ban in Kuwait

Traveling Overseas? Check Your Status If You’re Allowed to Do So

Perhaps one of the most dreadful things that could happen to any person, especially migrant workers, is getting arrested for something that you might have forgotten to settle in the past (i.e. debt or loan in the bank, shops, etc.)

This is something that happens in real life, mind you, especially in a country such as Kuwait because of something known as a travel ban.

A travel ban is an order issued by the authorities to all the state ports to prohibit a person from entering or leaving a country according to a court or police order for the protection of individual interests in cases like child custody, debt failure, or criminal investigation.

This only means that those who are sanctioned by the government with a travel ban are prohibited from leaving the country and may be arrested while entering if the reason(s) for prohibition is not settled right away.

Here are the procedures to perform to check if you have a travel ban in Kuwait:

  1. Visit the Kuwait government’s online portal (here).
  2. Input your VALID Civil ID number in the blank field provided.
  3. You will then receive a verification message (usually in Arabic), but if you can’t read Arabic – do not worry. Here’s what you can do to check this information:
    • Copy the text that was shown after you submitted your Civil ID number.
    • Click this link to open Google Translate services in a new tab on your browser.
    • Paste the Arabic text you copied from e.gov.kw and click the translate button for the message.

It’s as simple as that!

Now, once you’ve checked (just to be sure) that you can travel anytime you want to and are clear of any state restrictions – then good for you!

However, if you did incur a travel ban in your record, say for example, for an unpaid fine, then you can immediately settle this at any Interior Ministry services centers. Once settled in this manner, the ban will be immediately lifted, unless you course your settlement through the Justice Ministry where the ban will only be lifted a day after you’ve settled your payment.

Best practice before traveling to and from Kuwait: check if you have a travel ban first before booking a flight or getting on that plane! You don’t want to end up in jail or be detained at the airport, right?  

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