MP proposes amending law to allow citizenship to Kuwaitis’ expat wives

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KUWAIT CITY, Feb 23: MP Marzouq Al-Khalifa has submitted a proposal to amend Section 2 of Article 8 in the Amiri Decree No. 15/1959 concerning Kuwaiti citizenship in order to allow issuance of citizenship to expatriate women married to Kuwaiti men and have children, reports Al-Anba daily.

He proposed that, in cases where the marriage is terminated by death of the Kuwaiti husband, the expatriate wife has children from the deceased, and she managed to maintain her legal residency in Kuwait for at least five years since the day of her marriage, the expatriate wife should be granted Kuwaiti citizenship, even if she did not show interest in becoming a citizen prior to her husband’s demise.

Al-Khalifa indicated that this provision should be applicable even if the wife is a Bedoun resident of Kuwait. He explained that Section 1 of Article 8 in the Amiri Decree No. 15/1959 on Kuwaiti citizenship requires the expatriate wife to declare her interest in becoming a Kuwaiti citizen before the marriage ends through death.

According to Al-Khalifa, this condition of declaring intention is unjustified and an unnecessary requirement, considering that the woman has become a widow, is a resident of Kuwait and has children in this country.

This makes her a vital pillar of the family tie from every aspect. There is no reason behind depriving a widow of Kuwaiti nationality and separating her from her children, especially after the death of her Kuwaiti husband.

Al-Khalifa proposed the cancellation of the condition requiring expatriate women with children to declare her intention of becoming a Kuwaiti citizen in case of the death of their husband. He also suggested introducing a new subsection which does not differentiate between a wife of a certain nationality and one without nationality.

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