Kuwait to extend expired residency, visit visas for 3 more months from September 1

Kuwait has announced that the validity of expired residency and visit visas for those within the country will be extended by an additional three months starting September 1.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of Interior on Wednesday.

The extension will be processed automatically by the ministry online to avoid overcrowding at the Residency Affairs department.

اعتباراً من 2020/9/1
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الإعلام الأمني: وزير الداخلية يصدر قراراً بتمديد الإقامات والزيارات التي ستنتهي نهاية أغسطس الجاري لمدة 3 أشهر أخرى pic.twitter.com/K0IjGusu0c

— وزارة الداخلية (@Moi_kuw) August 26, 2020

This is the third extension from the ministry following a first three-month extension from March to May and a second one from June 1 to August 31.

The move was reportedly taken since travel restrictions remain in place in many parts of the world due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, according to reports, those holding a visit visa cannot change their status to a residence permit during this period.

Last month, officials also confirmed that residency permit holders outside of Kuwait, who were unable to renew their documents, would not be allowed to return unless they got new visas. Around 40,000 residency permits were not renewed.

Earlier this month, the Public Authority for Manpower in Kuwait also issued a directive to ban the transfer of government workers to the private sector.

Exceptions include spouses of Kuwaitis, Palestinians with travel documents and those in specialised technical professions in the healthcare industry who are transferring to licenced facilities to provide medical services, such as doctors and nurses.

Read: Kuwait imposes ban on visa transfers to private sector