Kuwait: No expatriates in Kuwait are exempted from the decision restricting the renewal of driver’s licenses to one year, local media reported.
On April 26, Kuwait authorities announced that the driving licenses of expatriates will now be renewed for only one year, down from three years at present.
However, only children and husbands of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis and Article 20 visa holders are still entitled to obtain a driver’s license for a period of three years.
Kuwait Times quoted a security source, that the one-year renewal policy applies as long as the expatriate’s job position remains the same and extends to driver’s licenses issued before 2013.
The decision to implement a one-year validity period was taken to simplify the renewal process, as licenses can now be easily renewed online.
This change aims to streamline license management while maintaining control over driving privileges for expats in the country.
Driving licenses for expatriates in Kuwait were previously valid for up to 10 years. Then this was changed to link the validity of the driver’s license to the validity of the expatriate’s residency.
It is reported that the Traffic Department then reduced the validity to only one year for several years, before extending the validity again to three years in 2020.
