By Ali Al-Rasheedi KUWAIT, Dec 29 (KUNA) -- The executive regulations of Kuwait's Foreigners' Residency Law No. 2249 of 2025, which came into effect on December 24, are meant to keep abreast of legislative and digital advancement and regulate all types of entry visas and residency, said General Department of Residency Affairs Monday.
In a statement to KUNA, the department's Director General Brigadier Mazid Al-Mutairi said the law was initially issued in 1959 and amended in 1965, then a ministerial decree was issued in 1987, and followed by several ministerial amendments, the last of which was in 2019.
He added that the Ministry of Interior, represented by the General Department of Residency Affairs, believed that it was necessary to conduct a comprehensive update in line with electronic and legislative advancements, which required the new executive regulations to be issued.
He noted that the bylaws included an inclusive regulation of all types of entry visas involving family, medical, business and tourist visits, along with work entry visas for the public and private sectors, domestic workers and study visas.
The Kuwaiti official elaborated that the main update was the inclusion of investor residency, residency for self-employed professionals and private businesses, and residency for specialized professionals.
A foreign investor's residency visa is issued upon request from the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) in line with Law No. 116 of 2013, he said, stating that ordinary residency may be granted to foreign investors for a period not exceeding 15 years, according to the Cabinet's rules, and that ordinary residency may also be granted to foreign investors upon KDIPA's request.
He noted that the bylaws stipulated allowing domestic workers with (Article 20) residency to be outside the country for a period not exceeding four months, otherwise residency would be cancelled. But, he maintained, the decision does not apply to those who left the country before the application date.
He pointed out that the regulations also stipulated that the age of the worker brought in the country for work should be between 21 and 60 years.
Al-Mutairi went on saying that the department, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior's General Department of Information Systems, has launched two fresh electronic services in the past few days for issuing a residency permit for the first time for private sector workers in line with Article (18), and transferring a worker's residency permit from the same sector to temporary residency in line with Article (14).
This comes in the context of the department's integrated plan targeting complete service digitalization and the achievement of the set goals under the direction of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah.
Concerning tourism, Al-Mutairi elaborated that the number of visitors per week ranges between 17,000 and 20,000 visitors, coming to the country for tourism, trade or family visits. (end) ajr.mt