Expatriates in Kuwait who missed the December 31 deadline for mandatory biometric fingerprinting are now prohibited from leaving the country until they comply, a security official confirmed.
Following the deadline, non-compliant expatriates have faced restrictions, including suspension of government and banking services. They are also barred from both entering and exiting Kuwait.
The biometric fingerprinting initiative, which aims to create a comprehensive database of residents, was previously extended last year. While Kuwaiti citizens had until September 30 to complete the process, expatriates were given until the end of December.
According to Talal Al Khalidi, an officer at the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Criminal Evidence, 3.5 million people have completed the procedure, but 181,718 expatriates remain unregistered.
He assured that eight fingerprinting centers operate daily, capable of handling 10,000 appointments per day. Appointments must be scheduled through a designated app, and the process takes less than three minutes.
Officials emphasize the importance of this project, describing it as essential for preventing passport fraud and dual citizenship, which is prohibited in Kuwait.
The system is mandatory for all residents aged 18 and older. With foreigners comprising 3.3 million of Kuwait’s 4.9 million population, authorities urge compliance to avoid further disruptions.
Follow ProPakistani on Google News & scroll through your favourite content faster!
Support independent journalism
If you want to join us in our mission to share independent, global journalism to the world, we’d love to have you on our side. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
