I tried to find an answer online but couldn’t. Does anyone know what the situation is for people who entered Kuwait on a tourist visa and couldn’t exit? I remember hearing that all tourist visas got extended since the airport closed but I can’t seem to find any official (or even unofficial) source mentioning it.
Update: According to an Arab Time article from last month, all visit visas have been extended by a further two months.
Update2: According to some readers the Arab Times article is wrong based on what the British and American Embassy have communicated to their citizens.
34 replies on “Expiring Tourist Visas”
The British Embassy has asked people to mail for extension
Also People with Tourist visa can just leave Kuwait with the current campaign, or ask their embassy to support in leaving ( Lebanese embassy is doing it already )
I belive the campaign is for residency violators and targetting specific nationalities and not related to expired visas. There are some embassies who have started evacuation flights but not all embassies.
I believe they should go and ask i think it’s allowed
Thank you for this post mark I have been trying to find and answer for this topic for a while unable to find anything. I hope someone here in the comments will have more insight to the subject. Thank you
yeah many people have been asking me and I keep telling them I have no idea.
Update as of today 15 April 2020
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/moi-grants-temporary-residence-for-expiring-visas-for-3-months/
Stay safe everyone
That’s a temporary residency visa, different from tourist visas.
Para 2 in the article says visit visas
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/moi-grants-temporary-residence-for-expiring-visas-for-3-months/
Oh sorry I missed that part, thanks!
Check out this article in Arab Times
https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/residence-renewal-for-expats-outside-kuwait-visit-visa-extension/
oh amazing thanks!
My in-laws had to pay the expired visitor’s visa fine at the airport when they left in late March
Did you guys see the last paragraph at the very end of that that says “this rule is for following countries: India, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Thailand, Italy, South Korea, Italy, and Singapore”?
Does that really mean none of what the article states applies to USA, UK, Canada, etc?
I don’t know if you’ve heard but the US embassy has only had one flight and it went straight into the heart of disaster in NYC. And the next m planned one is set for Texas at a whopping cost of 965kd. Can anyone pay 1000kd right now for a one-way ticket?? I don’t understand what they’re thinking and how Kuwait government expects anyone to pay this to get out by (possibly) the 30th of April.
These are emergency evacuation flights and so cost more than regular flights.
I actually emailed the US embassy about this two days ago, and they said there are no extensions be granted at this time.
Yes but that article in Arab times is apparently not accurate. My wife and kids are stuck here on tourist visas that expired on April 3rd. We were planning a visa run when this all blew up and couldn’t risk getting stuck out of the country as wife had to be here for work.
We thought we were sorted when we read the above article. And indeed my wife’s embassy wrote to her (she’s Hungarian) to tell her that her tourist visa was automatically extended and she was fine.
However, the British embassy has written to me (I’m British) and told me that it is not guaranteed that the visit visa will be renewed and I’ve had to supply them with all our details (kids are British).
So we’ve gone from panicking to being reassured to panicking again!
Could you please update me if you get any news or provide me with ur email address if u don’t mind ?
I’m also in the same boat I’m a New Zealand citizen in the same boat I came here in tourist visa which expired a few days ago , I’m staying with my parents who are also New Zealand citizens bit have a residency there , I pretty much saw the Arab times article and asked diff ppl they all mentioned the two months and now I’m panicking as well cuz I asked the Australian embassy and they don’t know about any extensions .
I’m Hungarian and I got the same information from our embassy.
I am Hungarian too.. So is it okay to stay after it expires? And how long is the extension for
Another conflicting piece of news on a similar subject: Online Residency Renewal
You still have to pay a 2kd per day fine for every day lapsed since your dependent’s residency expired.
1. Curfew in place and all Government Offices shut since 12-March.
2. Online Renewal commenced 06-April.
3. You’re screwed if residency expired between the above 2 dates 🙂
Canadian embassy have a same instructions to leave the country between 01-30 April if you are on visit visa and take advantage of Kuwait amnesty scheme. There is no news of visa extension of visitor.
That doesn’t make sense, leave the country how? There are no flights and not every country is offering evacuation flights and even those who are have like just one flight and they’re usually sold out.
The amnesty scheme you’re talking about which I’m guessing is this: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hL58ophI4/?igshid=6f1fsbcj63d4
That’s for a specific group of people, basically unskilled workers who are in Kuwait illegally or are residency violators. You will also have to stay with the government in their facility until they can arrange a flight for you out. At least that’s what I understood.
Yes mark I have the same thinking but at the moment nothing is clear. Even reply of embassy really disappointed. There are no flights and no clear instructions how to get benefit from this Kuwait govt to scheme.
According to a friend, the British Embassy told her they will be extending the visas and there is a form they’re asking their citizens to fill. It would be handled on a case by case basis.
I have asked Canadian embassy to let me know if I can extend my visa here and I do not want to travel back to Canada where more cases are reported everyday while I am feeling more safe here. Waiting there reply but it depends on visit visa policy of Kuwait govt. hope for the best.
Well as much as I feel sorry for those individuals that arrived here on visit visa, Its such a difficult time for everyone even those of us who reside here. I think the best bet is not stress yourself because most likely a waiver will be approved but , Kuwait will take a token from you regardless. So just ensure you have cash amount about 30-60 kD when you decide to leave, else you may be arrested for violation expecially those who wish to visit again soon will have issues getting a visa for proper employment.
According to Polish Embassy, tourist visas expired after 13.03 were automatically extended till 30.04 with a possibility to extend longer if the situation continues.
In the same boat. Parents landed here on 6th March were due to leave on 24th March but then as we all know. Their visa expired on 5th April. Now when I called up the embassy they asked me to speak to MoI regarding amnesty scheme. Now the problem is given how busy people are and I can’t speak Arabic it is very difficult to get my point across regarding visa extension. Plus the umpteen number of news from various sources
Are there any updates of tourist visa extensions. My friend’s visa runs out this month.
All visas have been extended until May 31st. But this only applies to visas that were valid after March 1st. So if your visa expired prior to March 1st then you have problems.
Thus is what the US embassy sent me. Also all visas and even your residency can now be renewed or extended online, except for tourist visas at this time.
“The Ministry of Interior has announced that Article 22 (dependent) and Article 24 (self-employed) visaholders can renew their resident permits online. Residents may also extend their temporary residence visa (Article 14) online for three months for a KD 3 fee.
On April 15, the Ministry of Interior announced that if a foreign national’s tourist visa or residency expired or will expire between March 1 and May 30, it will automatically be extended until May 31, 2020.”
My visit visa expired April 1st. Now May 31st and the extension expires today.
Is there now another extension in place until commercial flights are up and running to the UK, or should I expect to pay the 2kd per day fine when I do finally get to leave? Which may well be August at this rate…
I read an article in Arabic on AlAnba newspaper that MOI is extending automatically until Aug 31st without charge or any action required.
I read that too. Arab Times I think (English Version). Any confirmation though? Fingers crossed…