By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has called on all its undocumented citizens in the country to head to processing centers to take advantage of the amnesty offered by the Kuwaiti government. The last day of filing is today, April 30, 2020. All the necessary assistance will be accorded by the embassy, as it promised to be of service and can be reached whenever needed.

The charge d'affaires of the Philippine Embassy continues to appeal to all undocumented Filipinos in Kuwait, ie those with visas that expired before March 1, 2020 and those who have absconding cases against them, to take advantage of the amnesty program. "Please refer to our official Facebook page, which indicates the guidelines," he stated.

Meanwhile, the embassy also informed Filipinos slapped with travel bans due to unpaid telecom bills to go to the amnesty processing centers, as the three major telecom providers have set up booths at the venue to pay the bills. "Those who wish to pay in full their unpaid telecom bills may proceed to the processing centers from 9 am to 2 pm, and only cash payments will be accepted," the embassy advisory reads. "Filipinos whose amnesty applications were rejected on April 1-5 but have already paid the telecom loans may also proceed to the booths to continue the process of removing their travel bans," the advisory adds.

The government of Kuwait has granted an amnesty from April 1-30 to all undocumented expatriates. scheduling processing of their applications by nationality from April 1 at a school in Farwaniya. The process began with Filipinos, followed by Egyptians, Bangladeshis, Indians and Sri Lankans. The last five days are for applicants of all nationalities. The government has waived their fines and is shouldering their airfare home, with a chance to return.

Violators are received from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm at the following locations: Male violators are received at Al-Muthanna primary school for boys, Farwaniya, block 1, street 122, while female violators are received at Farwaniya primary school for girls in Farwaniya, block 1, street 76.

Residency violators from all nationalities are also received in two difference locations in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh as follows: Female violators are received at Roufayda Al-Aslameya School - Block 4 - Street 200, while male violators are received at Naeem bin Masod School - Block 4 - Street 250.