KUWAIT: The interior ministry said on Monday it has decided to deport a number of expats who overstayed their visit visas along with their sponsors and has already arrested a number of them. The ministry said in a statement that it has arrested a number of violators and their sponsors and was taking necessary measures to deport them in accordance with instructions from the interior minister.

It said that a number of expat women working in Kuwait had issued “family visit visas” for their husbands and children, but the visitors exceeded the duration stipulated in the visas. “Because the sponsors have not complied with the pledge they signed when they applied for the visas and violated the conditions, they will all (wives, husbands and children) be deported,” said the ministry statement. The decision was taken although the residencies of the wives were still valid.

The ministry warned that it will deport visitors and sponsors if the conditions of the visit visas are violated, especially for overstaying. The ministry did not give the number of those to be deported and if the process involved any fines. Local media said the expats to be deported were Syrian. In early February, Kuwait resumed the issuance of visit visas for relatives of expats working in Kuwait, but under stricter conditions.

Residents applying for their parents, wives and children must draw a monthly salary of KD 400 and a salary of at least KD 800 for other relatives. Applicants for family visit visas must provide a return air ticket for visitors issued on Kuwaiti national carriers — Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways. They must sign a written commitment pledging they will not attempt to transfer the visit visas to dependent residency. They must also pledge to comply with the duration of the visit visa.

If visitors overstay, they and their sponsors will be listed under a special security tracking system run by the detectives of the residency affairs department and legal measures will be taken against those violators, the ministry had warned. Medical treatment must be strictly in the private sector and visitors will not be allowed to seek treatment at public health facilities.

The ministry is now allowing expatriates without university degrees to sponsor their families provided they earn at least KD 800 per month. The revised policy specifically facilitates the sponsorship of wives and children for expatriates already residing or born in Kuwait, as well as for children born abroad who are under five years old. Moreover, the director general of the residency affairs general department at the interior ministry has the authority to waive the salary requirement under certain conditions.