No plans to amnesty for illegal residents

The Interior Ministry has no plans to give an amnesty in the near future for expatriates living illegally in Kuwait, local daily Kuwait Times reported citing a senior official. The last time an amnesty period was adopted was in 2011, when nearly 42,000 benefited from exceptions provided by the Interior Ministry for four months. The ministry’s General Department for Residency Affairs has so far not submitted a proposal in this regard, which suggests that an amnesty decision is not likely to happen this year, said Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah, the Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passports Affairs.

An amnesty would allow illegals to legalize their status and would forgive them fines for overstaying. The current number of illegal residents in Kuwait is around 90,000, and the crackdowns to arrest and deport illegals are ongoing.