Manama: Kuwait is considering plans to allow visa violators to renew their residencies, local media reported on Sunday.
The interior ministry has begun reviewing the files of visa violators, whose residencies expired in 2019 and will permit some cases to amend their status based on the authorities’ decision, Al Qabas daily reported.
Visa violators who filed their plea before January 2, 2020, will be considered, the daily reported citing official sources. The ministry team will review all aspects of their file, as they have been pending for a while due to the coronavirus-related restrictions, the report added.
The decision came at a time when the cases of visa violators are growing in the country as a complex issue.
A lot of foreigners are caught in the web of illegal visa trading, as they purchase a visa, usually around 1,500 Kuwaiti dinars (around Rs. 3,63,320), with the belief of making a living in Kuwait.
According to the prevailing law, if the visa is expired, the visa holders have to leave Kuwait or renew their visa, but many stay behind without a permit. These people are called visa violators.
As many as 1,00,000 visa violators are residing in the country as of April 2020, the report said.
When the COVID-19 crisis intensified in April, the Ministry of Interior initiated an amnesty programme that allowed non-permit holders to leave the country with no penalty. The government also paid for their tickets. As thus, between April and June, 26,000 non-permit holders left Kuwait as a result of the amnesty programme.
