Kuwait MP proposes $3,300 fee for expat driving licences

Kuwait’s only female MP has submitted a parliamentary proposal that would see foreigners charged the equivalent of thousands of dollars to obtain a driving licence.

The proposal is the latest by Safa Al-Hashem against the country’s foreign population after she previously called for a 10-year limit on expats staying in the country and the prevention of new workers from obtaining driving licenses.

Read: Kuwait MP calls for 10-year limit for foreign workers

A copy of the text published on Twitter indicated it was designed in “view of the current traffic congestion resulting from ongoing construction on various roads”.

Among the measures she suggests are for foreign workers to be charged KD1,000 ($3,314) for the issuance of a drivers licence in the country.

تماشياً مع خطة الدولة للقضاء على الزحام، وتوسعة الطرق.. ونظرا للملاحظات العديدة على تملك الوافدين لأكثر من سيارة دون مبررات واضحة..
تقدمت بالإقتراح برغبة التالى: pic.twitter.com/wpitUHrD2I

— safa Alhashem (@safaalhashem) January 10, 2018

Following this, an annual renewal fee of KD500 ($1,657) would be charged, with the amount multiplied based on the number of vehicles the foreigner owns.

Other parts of the plan include the linking of expat driving licences to their work permits to prevent fraud and the banning of the renewal of foreign workers’ vehicle registrations if their car is more than 10 years old.

Last March, a Kuwaiti lawyer field a suit at the country’s Administrative Court demanding the “urgent suspension” of the issuance of all new driving licences for expats.

Kuwait Times cited lawyer Mohammad Al-Ansari as saying he filed the lawsuit on behalf of several Kuwaiti citizens because traffic in the country had reached an “unbearable phase” and the government had failed to resolve congestion.

Read: Kuwaiti lawyer calls for ban on new expat drivers