Kuwait: Kuwait is considering granting the citizenship to expat wife of a Kuwaiti after 18 years of marriage, local media reported.
In this regard, the government of Kuwait submitted a draft law amending Article 8 of Amiri Decree No. 15/1959.
Under the proposed amendments, an ex-pat woman who married a Kuwaiti man will not automatically become a Kuwaiti citizen unless she declares her desire to do so to the minister of the interior and maintains legal residency in Kuwait for a period of 18 years from the date of marriage.
The minister of interior may also prevent her from obtaining Kuwaiti nationality if he deems it necessary.
As per a report by Arab Times, if a woman’s marriage ends due to death or divorce and she has a son or children, she can declare her desire to acquire Kuwaiti nationality, provided she has maintained her legal and normal residence in Kuwait and takes care of her children until one of them reaches the age of 10.
The amendments also state that the minister of interior can grant a expat woman, the wife of a Kuwaiti, the treatment of a Kuwaiti individual after she has announced her desire and the marriage for a period of three years maintained.
According to the Arabic daily Al Rai, the draft law aims to address concerns that the current provision allows expat women married to Kuwaiti nationals to acquire Kuwaiti citizenship only after five years of marriage without having children.
This led to expat women obtaining Kuwaiti nationality and then divorcing them from their Kuwaiti husbands without any ties to Kuwait.
The proposed amendments aim to address this issue by extending the period to 18 years and requiring proof of loyalty and integration into Kuwaiti society.
