RELO NEWS
The Kuwaiti Minister of the Interior (MOI) announced this month that a new online e-visa service is now up and running.
The new service is available to nationals of the five other Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) countries and nationals of an additional 52 countries travelling to Kuwait. Additionally, the new service gives members of 14 designated professions special considerations, such as visas for spouses, children, and household workers.
This year, the holiest Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha is expected to begin on Sunday, September 11.
The Eid al-Adha is Islam's holiest festival celebrated annually around the world and an official holiday in Muslim-majority countries.
Eid al-Adha 2016 is expected to begin on Sunday, September 11. Authorities in Saudi Arabia will confirm the actual dates of the Muslim festival and the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca on September 1 based on the sighting of the moon.
In a statement, Al-Shuail added the meeting was to initiate the execution of environmental fuel project and assign workers needed for the project. He also said the officials will simplify procedures for recruitment of about 60,000 workers from abroad. He noted the meeting was attended by the Director of Workers Need Estimation and Director of Environmental Fuel Abdullah Al-Ajmi.
Expatriates who reside in GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) can now apply online for entry permits to visit UAE through Dubai. The service aims to expedite passenger movement at airports and relieve GCC residents of the hassle of waiting in queues for their visit visas, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs announced on Wednesday.
The online visa application system also features an online payment method which will help passengers avoid the long queues to pay visa fees. As of now, the online system is not compulsory but merely an option for those who would like to complete the visa issuance procedure before arriving to the country.
Director of the Interior Ministry’s Residency Affairs Department Major General Talal Maarafi stressed that starting from January 10, 2016, the renewal validity of expatriates dependants’ residency visa (article 22) would be tied to the validity of those of their own sponsors. “This means that if an expat’s residency is valid for one year, he can only renew those of his wife or kids for a single year,” he explained
A Kuwait government plan to ban foreign workers getting access to public healthcare services will cause a series of consequences to the expatriate community, local media has reported.
Kuwaiti Economics Committee in the Supreme Council for Planning and Development recently proposed a two-layered alternative health plan for the three million of expats residing in Kuwait which would cause expatriates’ annual health insurance fees to triple to not less than KD150 ($493).
Kuwait Interior Ministry has approved a proposal to increase expat fees for visas in the country.
The Interior Ministry’s assistant undersecretary for Nationality and Residency Affairs, Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, said the approval will see expat fees increase for visit and tourist visas, temporary residency, self-sponsorship and family dependency visas.
All expats will have their fingerprints taken before flying out of the country, a source has told the Kuwait Times newspaper.
The new policy by the Interior Ministry will only include foreign workers and will not include Kuwaiti citizens, diplomats or judges, the report said.
The move is one of around 30 new procedures issued to employees at Kuwait International Airport.
The source told the newspaper staff were also instructed to make sure there are no travel bans issued on a traveller before stamping the passport or the boarding pass.
