The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior (MOI) announced that irregular migrants can regularise their status or leave Kuwait between 1 December and 31 December 2020 without being referred to the investigation authorities or be blacklisted from Kuwait, provided that they pay fines. 

The MOI requested all irregular migrants whose permits and visit visas expired after 1 January 2020 to book an appointment on the Ministry’s online platform to rectify their status. According to the MOI, the Ministry has the capacity to receive 2400 irregular workers daily and it is expecting 40,000 irregular migrants to avail the scheme. 

Expats with residency permits which expired after 1 September 2020 must pay the usual fine of KD2 per day to renew their visas or leave without getting blacklisted. 

Last month, Kuwait’s MOI announced that it will no longer grant free visa extensions and according to media reports, there are still around 132,000 residents in Kuwait whose permits have expired after 1 January 2020. 

Kuwait’s decision to suspend issuing or renewing work permits for migrants aged 60 and above who hold high school diplomas or below will go into effect next month. It is estimated that 70,000 senior expats who meet the stipulated criteria will have to leave Kuwait next year.