KUWAIT: Interior Ministry Undersecretary for Residency Affairs Maj Gen Talal Maarafi authorized residency department directors in various governorates to assess expats' visit visa applications and grant them one- to three-month visit visas on the condition that sponsors have high income and are fully capable of hosting the visitors, namely parents.

In this regard, informed sources explained that tourist visit visas will be valid for three months and given to Europeans and resident expats' wives and children, while commercial or family visit visas for relatives other than wives and children will be limited to one month.

Meanwhile, Public Authority for Civil Information Director Musaed Al-Assousi stressed that after the decision made by the interior minister to cancel residency stickers, expats' civil ID cards will be used as both identification and residency documents. Assousi added that all types of residency visas will be issued without stickers except for temporary visas given according to article 14. He also noted that data included in civil IDs have been amended to include names in English and passport numbers.

By A Saleh