The traffic department in Kuwait intends to filter the driving licenses issued to expatriates, particularly reviewing all data related to these licenses to ensure compliance with the conditions stated in the ministerial decision, including "salary and qualifications," or licenses granted under exceptions mentioned in the organizing decision related to salary requirements. This follows directions from the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant General Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf.
A source stated that under the new instructions, there will be a scrutiny of those holding driving licenses, and if the salary condition is no longer met, the license will be revoked. For example, an accountant who obtained a driving license under the assumption that he earns a salary of 600 Kuwaiti dinars with a university qualification but later moved to another job with a salary of 400 dinars would have their license revoked. Similarly, drivers who obtained licenses as drivers but later changed their profession to a barber or something similar will also have their licenses revoked. Additionally, a media professional who obtained a driving license while lacking the salary requirement and received an exception but subsequently shifted to a non-media field will also have their license revoked, as reported by the Kuwaiti newspaper "Al-Anbaa."
The source mentioned that for renewed licenses, there will be verification of the conditions, and once they are no longer met, the licenses will not be renewed and will be treated as if non-existent, meaning the holder cannot drive.
To achieve the filtering of driving licenses, important procedures will be followed, including giving a grace period for renewing licenses that were issued previously, requiring expatriates to obtain smart licenses. The issuance of these licenses necessitates confirmation of compliance with the ministerial decision in addition to coordination with the labor authority, which has records of expatriates, to provide the traffic sector's information systems management with details about expatriates who have moved to new job locations where the conditions of the ministerial decision no longer apply. The source noted that there is a significant number of expatriates who applied to renew licenses that were revoked from them in the past months for the same reason.
Regarding the old licenses held by citizens, the source said that the aim of the instructions is to revoke licenses from expatriates who obtained them without meeting one of the conditions of the decision, while citizens may continue to use their licenses until further notice. The source reiterated that the Ministry of Interior will grant sufficient time to implement these new procedures to avoid congestion in traffic departments, banning the use of old licenses even if they are still valid.
It is worth noting that traffic officials previously stated that licenses issued before 2013 would not be revoked since the organizing law was enacted after this date. The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior, Lieutenant General Sheikh Faisal Al-Nawaf, held a meeting yesterday with traffic sector leaders, including the Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs, Major General Jamal Al-Sayegh, and assistants to the Director General of the General Traffic Department.
Additionally, the smart license has modern specifications and security features, complies with international standards, is permitted for international use, and is not subject to forgery. The General Traffic Department began issuing the third phase of smart licenses on January 17, allowing expatriates to receive smart licenses after the first phase was limited to citizens.
