Wife’s residence expiring one month before mine can i apply for renewal?
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I would like to inquire about my wife’s residency. Her residency is expiring in March and my residency is expiring in May. Can I renew my wife’s residency for one year or more? If yes what is the procedure and if not what steps should I take for the renewal of residency.
Name withheld
Answer: Before we directly give a “yes or no” answer to your question it is important to draw your attention and that of all our other readers — who face similar situations — to a statement made in the first week of January by a senior Interior Ministry official so that these readers have a clear understanding of the issue.
This statement was made by Major General Talal Marafi, Director General of the Residency Affairs Department at the Ministry of Interior. Marafi said that “ the validity of the residence of dependents of expatriates will be linked to the validity of their sponsor’s residence. This is to ensure that the residence of the sponsor’s children and wife do not exceed that of the sponsor”.
Marafi, stressing the need of a quick implementation of this decision, said this had been done because various violations had surfaced in this regard.
Giving examples, Marafi said there were cases in which an expatriate husband (with a one-year residence) gets deported but his wife and children stay in the country because they could have a residence which could be as long as five years.
Citing another example, he said an expatriate (with a two-year residence) divorces his wife but his dependents remain on his sponsorship because their residence could be anywhere from three to five years.
So, we hope that we have now answered your question but just in case you still harbor some doubts the answer is “No”.
In such a case, there are two things you can do here…firstly you need to renew your residence before the residence of your wife expires. Once your residence is done, you can renew your wife’s residence for the same duration.
Just in case your residence is not renewed by the time your wife’s residence expires, you should get a temporary residence (Article 14) for your wife.
You will get this residence for one month at a time and a maximum of three months. This will ensure that your wife’s stay in Kuwait remains legal and you don’t have to pay a fine. It will also afford you enough time to renew your residence.
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