Kuwait’s Parliament in its regular session approved the request from the Business Environment Improvement Committee to conduct a study on the impact of the Ministry of Interior’s decision to suspend the issuance of family visas for expatriates employed in the private sector.

Family visas for expatriates in Kuwait have been suspended since August 2022. The Ministry of Interior suspended the issuance of family residence visas in order to restructure Kuwait’s demographic framework.

However, there have been some recent updates. In December 2022, the Ministry of Interior resumed issuing family residence visas for children below the age of five under certain circumstances. Effective immediately from September 14, 2023, Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior has resumed issuing family residence visas for the wife and children (males under the age of 15 and females under the age of 18) of expats in Kuwait working as medical staff in the Ministry of Health. It is unclear at this time when the suspension will be lifted for other categories of applicants