Process of marital authentication for ‘documents issued outside Kuwait’

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KUWAIT CITY, Jan 15: Director of the Legal Certification Department at the Ministry of Justice Dr. Fahad Al- Dhaen said the process of marital authentication is for marriage certificates that are issued outside Kuwait, and is required in case the two parties are Kuwaitis or one of them. As for non-Kuwaitis, the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sufficient, reports Aljarida daily. In a press statement about a circular that sparked controversies in this regard, Dr. Al-Dhaen explained that the circular was issued with a typo, as the word “unless” was not included. It was understood that, even if there is a judicial ruling, it will not be implemented.

This matter is on the contrary, as judicial rulings are enforceable, respected and applied. The issue was remedied by correcting the typo, issuing a new circular and withdrawing the previous one. The second paragraph came with a more clarification of this meaning, in the light of which, the new decision was issued. Unfortunately, it was understood from the first circular that it is a restriction on the Bedoun residents.

On the contrary, this facilitates them more than is the case. Marriage within Kuwait for Kuwaitis or non-Kuwaitis or Bedoun residents is the same as it was previously. There is no change in its procedures. It is worth mentioning that the Department of Legal Certification in the Ministry of Justice issued a circular on November 28 to state that marital authentication was not carried out under a judicial ruling for the Bedoun residents, unless one of the parties to the marriage is a Kuwaiti.

This sparked wide reactions on social media as a result of which the department withdrew the circular, and reissued another one with more clarity. As per the new circular, the officials, heads of departments and external offices and their notaries in service centers are required to commit to not issuing marital authentication documents under an overseas marriage certificate unless one or both of the parties is a Kuwaiti.

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