In the series of immigration overhaul going on in Kuwait, the government now gave instructions as echoed by the Interior Ministry’s Assistant for Nationality, Passports, and Travel Documents Maj Gen Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf Al-Sabah to limit the issuance of visa absence permission only or study, medication, and humanitarian reasons following certain conditions and standards set by the Kuwaiti government, as shared in a report by the Kuwait Times.
The visa absence permission is issued to residents of Kuwait who need to leave the country for extended periods of time without having their residency visas cancelled.
Gov’t to limit Issuance of Visa Absence Permission to Residents
As introduced above, a residence visa gets cancelled if the visa holder is absent or stays abroad for a prolonged period of time (i.e. 6 months).
And, as also pointed above, there are certain exemptions to this rule such as (1) studying overseas, (2) receiving medical treatment abroad, and (3) a requirement of their job to stay overseas for work.
Note that for all three conditions, prior permission must be obtained from the Kuwaiti government before leaving the country.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Faisal issued instructions to remedy the issue with Syrian residency violators who had entered the country on visit visas.
Furthermore, those who are earning 450 KD and above will be allowed to apply for family visas for their spouse and children. A ministry source also added that, currently, there is an on-going study regarding the possibility of issuing family visas for the father, mother, brother, and sister in the case pointed out.
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With the reinforcement of immigration policies on visa issuance in the country, Kuwait aims to see a decrease in the number of residency violators in the Gulf State, which had been one of the long-standing issues being dealt with by the Kuwaiti government, and even those from other parts of the world.