Kuwait has introduced residency permits of up to 10 years for some people who lost Kuwaiti citizenship, giving them a legal way to remain in the country as foreign residents.
Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
- Kuwait has introduced 10-year residency permits for people who lost Kuwaiti citizenship, giving them legal status as foreign residents.
- The new permits, set under Ministerial Decision No. 1410 of 2026, require applicants to have another nationality and do not restore citizenship.
- Changes also include revised rules on how long foreign residents and domestic workers can remain outside Kuwait, with stricter four-month limits for domestic workers.
- For African workers, the most direct impact is the revised residency environment, especially new limits on overseas absences, rather than the 10-year permit itself.
The changes were introduced under Ministerial Decision No. 1410 of 2026, issued by First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah.
The decision was published in the official gazette, Kuwait Al Youm, and takes effect from publication.
Under the new Article 7 bis, people whose Kuwaiti citizenship was withdrawn under Clause 4 of Article 13 of Amiri Decree No. 15 of 1959 may qualify.
It also covers people who received citizenship through dependency and were included in the withdrawal decree.
To qualify, applicants must have returned to their original foreign nationality or obtained another nationality.
The Director General of the General Department of Residency Affairs will set the conditions for issuing and renewing the permits, as well as the rules under which holders can work in Kuwait.
Importantly, the measure does not restore Kuwaiti citizenship or reverse the withdrawal decision, but instead gives affected people a separate legal status to remain in the country.
Kuwait remains one of the Gulf’s wealthiest oil-producing economies, with the world’s highest-valued currency by unit value and tax-free salaries that have helped attract migrant workers.
Oil, however, continues to dominate the economy despite government efforts to diversify into other sectors.
Against that economic backdrop, the new residency framework sets out the fees and conditions that will apply to people covered by Article 7 bis and their families.
DON’T MISS:Middle East’s 2nd-largest economy deports nearly 15,000 people in one week as Ethiopians account for 58% of illegal border arrests
Under the new framework, Article 7 bis residents will not pay annual residency fees, while their spouses, children and parents will pay 10 Kuwaiti dinars (about $32) per person annually for family residency and other relatives will pay 300 dinars (about $970).
The same 10-dinar fee will apply to immediate family members of Gulf nationals whose Kuwaiti citizenship was withdrawn and who later returned to their original nationality.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has also changed rules on how long foreign residents can remain outside the country.
Foreign residents are generally limited to six months abroad, although Article 7 bis residents, some foreign children of Kuwaiti women, property owners and qualifying investors are exempt.
Domestic workers face a stricter four-month limit and risk losing their residency rights if they stay away longer without prior approval.
DON’T MISS:Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain deport over 336,000 foreign workers in 2026 amid crackdown on Ethiopians, Ugandans and Nigerians
More broadly, the changes matter to African countries because Kuwait relies heavily on foreign labour.
Kuwait had 5.31 million residents by June 2026, including 3.74 million expatriates, while foreign workers numbered about 2.8 million, or roughly three-quarters of the workforce, with about 883,300 employed in domestic service.
Africans form an important part of this workforce, with Egyptians ranking as Kuwait’s second-largest expatriate community after Indians at about 670,000 residents, or 14.6% of the workforce.
Ethiopia is another importantm Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries have also travelled to Kuwait for work
However, Kuwait tightened domestic-worker recruitment rules in 2026, allowing recruitment from countries including Ethiopia, South Africa and Benin while restricting Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
The 10-year permit does not create a new long-term visa for African workers generally, but mainly applies to people who lost Kuwaiti citizenship and now hold another nationality.
For African migrant workers, therefore, the more direct issue is the wider residency reform, particularly the four-month overseas absence limit for domestic workers.
