By B Izzak
KUWAIT: MP Ali Al-Qattan yesterday submitted a draft law calling on authorities to grant children of Kuwaiti women from their foreign husbands permanent residence permits to save them trouble renewing their residencies every year. Qattan said that the measure will provide needed stability to families of Kuwaiti women married to foreign husbands.
Kuwait, like a majority of Arab countries, does not grant children of Kuwaiti women from foreign husbands Kuwaiti citizenship and treats them like expats who are required to obtain a legal residence permit to be able to live in the country. Kuwaiti women can also sponsor their non-Kuwaiti children.
Meanwhile, MP Osama Al-Shaheen cited Finance Minister Khalifa Hamada as denying the government has any plan to impose taxes to boost state revenues. The finance ministry came under fire by MPs in the past few days after inviting bids from private companies to set up a modern system for taxes.
The move sparked fears among lawmakers that it was a prelude to imposing taxes on citizens and warned the minister and the entire government of actions.
Shaheen said that the finance minister said the project was aimed at modernizing the taxation system for minor taxes that were imposed since 1955 and there is no plan to impose additional taxes.
MP Saifi Al-Saifi yesterday submitted a draft law calling to include citizenship disputes under the authority of courts. At present, citizenship issues are considered sovereignty matters and courts are not allowed to handle them.