(عربي)

During its last session, the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers approved two new laws for the residency of expatriates, according to which a continuous residency period of ten years was granted to investors and property owners of expatriates and 5 years to ordinary expatriates.

The articles of the new law stipulated that it is permissible for a foreigner to reside for a period not exceeding 10 years for both investors and real estate owners, provided that the Council of Ministers issues a decision specifying the areas in which expatriates can invest and the amounts that they must invest, as for expatriates who wish to own real estate in Kuwait, they must obtain approval from the Kuwaiti Council of Ministers, after submitting the required documents to the Ministry of Justice, to review the legal situation of the expatriate and his family members, as they must have their records free of any criminal case or misconduct, and the expatriate should hold a valid residency and should not have any violation of the residency regulations. The purchase of the property should be for own residency and not for renting purposes.

The distinguished residence is considered a temporary residence, that is, it is not automatically renewed. The conditions of the residence may be modified in the future; also the Ministry of Interior reserves the right not to renew the residence for an expatriate based on valid reasons.

This law also allows expatriates subject to a deportation order, to have a grace period in order to be able to liquidate their business, determined by the Ministry of Interior, while not allowing them to return to the country without permission from the Ministry.

In addition to that, the new residency law gives Kuwaiti citizens the ability to obtain a residence permit for their husbands and members of their family, provided that none of them work for a governmental or non-governmental entity, also its citizenship should not be obtained through naturalized by a marriage with a Kuwaiti citizen.

The law stipulates that the maximum period for a domestic worker, wishing to reside abroad, should not exceeding 4 months compared to 6 months before.

It is expected that the new law will revive the real estate sector in Kuwait, and it will also make it easier for expatriates to deposit their money in banks and invest it, instead of transferring it abroad, which will benefit investors, expatriate workers and the Kuwaiti economy.