Major General Talal Maarafi

KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior (MoI) is currently considering a new project involving issuing a residency card instead of residency stickers affixed on expats' passports, said Major General Talal Maarafi, Director of the ministry's Residency Affairs Department. He added that the new card would include all information about sponsors and holders and would be given on getting or renewing residency visas.

Responding to a question about Kuwaiti sponsors withholding expats' passports, Maarafi said that once the new card is in use, sponsors would be banned from retaining passports. "This way, passport pages will not be used up by residency stickers in a short time," he underlined.

Asked about extending commercial and family visit visas, Maarafi said that extensions would start next week after new extension rubberstamps arrive in order to avoid using stickers as well. However, Maarafi said that extensions would only be given for special cases with valid reasons because expats should immediately leave once their one- or three-month visit visas expire.

Moreover, Maarafi said Yemeni and Syrian expats would be allowed to stay out of Kuwait for over six months without cancellation of their residency visas on condition that the visas remain valid and holders or their legal representatives apply for 'absence permission'.

Maarafi also announced that the Capital immigration department located in Shuwaikh would be relocated to the former Hawally immigration department building overlooking the Jawazat Roundabout in Salmiya within two months pending the construction of a new building within two years. - Al-Rai