Residency of 56,000 Expats Revoked in 2022

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KUWAIT CITY, March 19: According to a recent immigration report issued by the Central Department of Statistics in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, the total number of residence permits granted to expatriates in the past year was 2,838,613, which is an increase of 318,000 compared to 2021.

The report highlights that the largest increase in residence permits was for domestic workers and civil work, with 162,000 new residences granted to domestic workers and 165,000 for the private sector. The report also notes that 67.2% of first-time permits were issued to expatriates from non-Arab Asian countries.

Additionally, the private sector saw an entry of only 22,258 expat workers, which is the highest percentage after a halt in entry during the COVID-19 pandemic period between 2020 and 2021, reports Al Qabas. The family sector also saw a significant increase in domestic workers and families joining, with 42,800 new workers and an average of 23,416 residents.

Family sector also experienced a substantial influx of domestic workers, totaling 42,800, which is the highest figure in the past three years. Additionally, there was an increase in the number of families with an average of 23,416 residents joining the sector

According to the report, there were 27,690 expats who violated the country’s residency laws last year, 34% of them holding domestic worker residency permits, and 32% of them entered on visitor or temporary residence visas. The report also noted that 64.4% of residency violators were non-Arab Asians, with a total of 17,850 violators, followed by 7,582 residents of Arab nationalities.

According to the report, the number of residency violators in 2022 was the lowest in the past three years, with figures ranging from 36,300 to 42,000 violators. However, the total cumulative number of residency violators in the country has reached 133,440, with domestic workers comprising 49.4% of the violators, followed by 30,417 expatriates who entered the country on visas, and then 29,700 violators who are working in the private sector.

During the previous year, 56,279 residence permits were cancelled, with 54% of them belonging to non-Arab Asian workers. The authorities cancelled 12,911 temporary residence visas during the same period, along with 4,769 government sector workers, followed by 17,376 private sector workers. Additionally, 5 self-sponsored visas were revoked, along with 5,871 permits for domestic workers. 15,131 family visas were cancelled, as well as 104 self sponsors under Article 24.

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