The Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI) in Kuwait has introduced several alterations to its Civil ID renewal process. While these changes aim to streamline the renewal procedure, they have caused some initial confusion among expatriates accustomed to the previous system.

In my recent encounter with this modified process, I found that after my visa renewal, the expected notification from PACI to initiate my Civil ID renewal never arrived. In an attempt to understand this discrepancy, I decided to manually initiate the renewal process on the PACI website, by selecting the 'Card Renewal' option available here.

Upon entering my Civil ID number, the system informed me that my residency information had been updated, an unexpected response as I was looking forward to a prompt to pay the usual 5 KD renewal fee.

Further investigation led me to an even more interesting discovery. When I tried to repeat the renewal process by re-entering my Civil ID number, I was met with the message: "The request is denied as there was a previous request with no change in the residence information." This suggests that PACI's new system is designed to prevent unnecessary repeat renewal requests when there's no change in residency information. i verified mobil id also it was updated with latest residency information.

I also found a crucial point worth noting: it seems that the renewal fee of 5 KD is required only for those who received their Civil ID cards last year. For individuals, like myself, who paid the fee last year but did not receive the renewed Civil ID, the fee is not required again for the renewal process this year.

These changes in PACI's renewal procedures appear to be designed to prevent duplicate fees and avoid redundant requests, thereby making the renewal process more efficient. Despite the initial confusion, it seems that these revisions are geared towards a smoother renewal experience for residents. As always, if there are any doubts or uncertainties, it's best to get them clarified directly with PACI to avoid potential future complications.