KUWAIT: The deadline for expatriates to register their biometric data ends on Tuesday and the period will not be extended, officials of the General Department of Criminal Evidence said. Those who fail to submit the compulsory biometric data will have all their applications, transactions, bank accounts and renewal of residency completely blocked, head of the department Maj Gen Eid Al-Owaihan said in an interview on Monday.

The deadline for Kuwaitis ended on Sept 30, and a majority of the 16,000 Kuwaitis who did not submit their biometrics had their transactions and bank accounts blocked. Owaihan said in an interview with Kuwait TV’s news channel that the nine centers of the department will continue to receive expats and citizens daily from 8 am to 8 pm. The suspension of the transactions and bank accounts will be lifted immediately after the biometric data are submitted, he said.

So far, about 76 percent of those required to undergo the registration (people aged 18 years and above) have completed the process, Owaihan said. Those who haven’t done so include 16,000 Kuwaitis, around 224,000 expats and just over 88,000 bedoons or stateless people, he said. The department has carried out the biometric registration of about 2.5 million people.

Owaihan denied rumors that the interior ministry plans to impose fines on those who fail to submit their biometrics, adding only their transactions and bank accounts will be blocked and renewal of residency of expats will be suspended.