Parents of different nationality – Passport issuance for Child

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I am a South African male married to a Filipino lady and we just had our second child in Kuwait. When applying for residency they told me that my daughter has to have the same passport as myself which is South African, however with my son (first born) there was no issue that he has a Filipino passport.

The reason why we initially got the Filipino passport is cause my embassy takes 2 months and even more to obtain a passport thus we want to avoid the hefty fine. Is there anything we could do and will the ministry accept a NOC from my embassy or do I have no choice but to apply and wait for a South African passport for my daughter and start the whole process again? Hope you can help or guide me please.

Name withheld

Answer: We are repeating this question as a result of some inaccuracies pointed out to us in the answer given in last week’s edition of the column. Below is the revised answer to the question.

The immigration officer we are told, was totally wrong in his estimation of the issue as there are hundreds of legally residing expats in the country whose fathers are of different nationalities from their mothers.

Different ways have been suggested to get around this problem.

1. Get an affidavit from the Philippine Embassy which states your relation with the child. The affidavit must contain the passport numbers and nationalities of the child, plus both the father’s and mother’s. This should be in both English and Arabic. Get the affidavit attested from the Kuwait Foreign Ministry annex in Shuwaikh for presentation to the immigration department in your area. In the event you face another rejection, go and meet the Director- General of Immigration, whose office is located in Dajeej, Farwaniya. There is no law in Kuwait which says that a father can’t sponsor his child who holds a different nationality.

2. If the above method fails to solve your problem, please get Article 14 residence (within 60 days of the child’s birth) as this will save you legal hassles plus fines. Getting this type of residence will earn you three months (one month at a time) to complete other procedures.

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This news has been read 13086 times!