KUWAIT CITY, Sept 9: The Ministry of Interior has confirmed that it will proceed with halting all transactions for citizens and residents who fail to complete biometric fingerprinting by the respective deadlines. For citizens, the deadline is September 30, 2024, while expatriates have until December 31, 2024. The Ministry emphasized that the lack of biometric fingerprinting will not affect travel rights, as travel restrictions can only be imposed by the Public Prosecution, the General Department of Investigations, or through ministerial decisions in the public interest.

The Ministry anticipates that approximately 250,000 individuals will complete their fingerprinting after the deadline, either due to non-compliance with the law or being wanted. Since the start of the biometric fingerprinting process in May 2023, around 805,000 citizens have undergone fingerprinting, with 171,000 yet to comply. Additionally, 1,864,000 expatriates have been fingerprinted, leaving about 970,000 who still need to complete the process.

Regarding illegal residents, the source confirmed that they will also be required to undergo biometric fingerprinting, but this will be coordinated with the General Administration of Information Systems and the Central Agency for Illegal Residents. This requirement will apply when traveling, renewing security cards, or conducting other transactions.

The biometric fingerprinting project, initiated in 2016, aims to establish a comprehensive database of all individuals in Kuwait, including citizens, residents, and short-term visitors. This initiative is expected to help combat passport forgery, and dual nationality issues, and assist in locating and identifying security wanted persons. The project has been modeled after successful implementations in GCC and other foreign countries and was officially launched in May 2023.

After the deadline, transactions in all ministries, government agencies, banks, and listed companies will be halted for those who have not completed their fingerprinting, with investigations to follow.

To accommodate individuals with special needs and bedridden persons, the Ministry of Interior, in coordination with the General Administration of Information Systems, will provide mobile biometric fingerprinting services. Since the initiative began, 1,300 beneficiaries have utilized this service.

For bedridden individuals and those with moderate to severe disabilities, the General Department of Public Relations and Security Media announced that document submission for biometric fingerprinting must be done via WhatsApp only. Once documents are received, appointments will be scheduled for fingerprinting.

With only 21 days remaining until the citizen fingerprinting deadline, the Ministry has extended the operating hours of fingerprinting centers to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Individuals are required to book appointments in advance through the “Sahel” application before visiting the centers.