KUWAIT CITY, Feb 7: The Nationality Department has launched a sweeping new initiative to detect forgery and dual citizenship by cross-referencing old paper fingerprints with electronic biometrics for around 9,000 individuals who skipped biometric enrollment.

Sources reveal the automated process has already uncovered 120 matches—linking paper fingerprints of Kuwaitis to biometrics of Gulf nationals and foreigners—triggering automatic loss of Kuwaiti nationality under strict new enforcement.

Every Kuwaiti gets an ink fingerprint (a ten-digit "fingerprint notification") stored with the Criminal Evidence Department upon turning 18, alongside mandatory biometric scans for citizens, expats, and all visitors.

The first batch exposed majorities as women, with officials expecting "hundreds" more cases as the system scans holdouts for three key reasons:

A match equals dual citizenship—banned by law with no exceptions or choice. Past leniency allowing renunciation is over; nationality loss is now automatic, sources confirm.