A reader just sent me a link to an Arab Times article which has both good news and bad news. The good news is that it seems expats can now own pick-ups, the bad news is that expats can only own 3 cars:
The Ministry of Interior has clarified that expats in Kuwait are permitted to own a maximum of three vehicles for personal use.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Bouhassan, Assistant Director of the Traffic Awareness Department, the permitted vehicles can include motorcycles, pickup trucks, or other types of cars.
Bouhassan added that while expats are allowed to renew the registrations of their existing vehicles, they are not permitted to register any additional vehicles beyond the three-vehicle limit. Source
I had to register my pick up under my wife’s name because expats couldn’t own pick up trucks. Now that we can, I still can’t move it to my name because I have 6 other cars registered. I don’t know why they keep complicating things. If it’s to reduce traffic this isn’t going to help.
61 replies on “Expats Can Only Own Three Vehicles Including Pickups”
Same issue im also an expat with 8 cars, what do i do now?
It says we can continue to register we just can’t register any other car
Why would you want to own more than three vehicles anyway!
I think a total of three vehicle ownership is more than enough…
inta maaalak? whats your concern? if its traffic etc, let me remind you that even if i own 10 cars, i can only drive one at once…why the restriction?
Out of curiosity, why do you think you have the right to decide for me how many vehicles I should own? Do I tell you how many video games you should own or what you should eat or not?
Its simple, Mark. Kuwait does not have an incentive in restricting the number of cars expats buy. That makes little economic sense. However, like many other countries this is about economy and job security. Namely for delivery companies and taxis. Many expats do work as taxis using cars rented from other expats. Want to see a few examples? Go to a busy shop in Hawally and Farwaniya and you are guaranteed to be approached by several non-licensed drivers offering their services. This must be controlled.
Lol should the approach be let us arrest the illegal taxi services instead of restricting cars, does not make any sense what you said, without owning also as you said they could just rent from their friends.
Just because one can, doesn’t mean one should.
We should know where to draw a line between what we need and what we want is all I’m saying.
Don’t mean to offend anyone.
Why are you deciding what other people should or shouldn’t have? I drew my line at 10 cars, is that a problem for you? If yes why let us know.
Empathy perhaps?
Many people don’t even own one.
We are blessed to be allowed three and here we are arguing about ten.
I’m not deciding and I don’t want to decide.
Again, just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.
And we can agree to disagree.
I’ve voiced my opinion, you can definitely disagree but don’t ask me for my justification.
Stay blessed!
So because you have 1 car I shouldn’t own more than 3? That’s not empathy, that’s projecting your situation onto others.
What I have or what I don’t is not what’s on discussion.
If you can’t be grateful then I feel sorry.
Accept the situation and thank God you have whatever you have and I wish you more.
But, please, don’t feel entitled as if your right is being revoked.
I definitely don’t feel that we’ve been born to own vehicles.
But you made what you have or don’t have part of the discussion.
You think because other people have an X number of cars, I should be limited to an X number of cars.
This has nothing to do with being grateful. Saying I’m being ungrateful because I have more cars than you or someone else is called resentment.
Like I said
I wish you own another twenty cars for all I care.
Times can change at any time, like now.
This rule change is something that beyond your control. Just accept and move on rather than justify who should own X or Y or Z….
I’m not trying to justify anything, you’re the one trying to tell me how many cars you think I should own.
i cant believe you have this much patience…..im about to have an aneurysm just reading some of these stupid comments
the funniest part was the god angle when he realized there is no comeback in this argument XD
Cars are not a limited commodity where if someone owns a 100 cars, the rest of us have a shortage. So it doesn’t need to be regulated.
I have to disagree! I think everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room: car ownership needs to be regulated for everyone. First, for the environment, and second, because the traffic here has become unbearable. To those saying ‘owning five cars doesn’t mean you drive them all at once’—how many people is that actually true for? Aside from a few collectors, most multi-car homes are large families where everyone is on the road. Statistically, since expats outnumber Kuwaitis 3-to-1, restrictions there make sense, but it must be enforced on citizens too. In many other countries, you pay a premium or a tax for owning more than one or two cars per household. Why not here?
“To those saying ‘owning five cars doesn’t mean you drive them all at once’—how many people is that actually true for?”
It’s true for 100% of the people since no one can physically drive more than one car at a time.
The rest of your comment doesn’t make any sense either. What do families have to do with this law, or all of them being on the road at the same time? The limit isn’t 3 cars per family it’s 3 cars per person. That means a family that has 3 members who can drive can own 9 cars combined. They would still be able to have 3 on the road at one time because you can’t drive more than one car a time.
The way you’ve structured your argument is as if only the father can own cars and by limiting the father to only 3 cars it means only 3 members of the family can drive.
I’m imagining an expat billionaire in Dubai being told he can’t own more than 3 cars. 🤣
It seems so, this is the first I hear of it and they don’t list specifics so not sure if there are hoops we need to jump through.
Goodness me.
So much of discussion on being told that you can’t own more than 3 vehicles!
It’s not the end of the world guys!
*Standing ovation*
I’m glad you put mark where he belongs, in his cars
Well said
Agree with whatever you said 👏
It’s crazy how invested some people get in my personal life, they’re my cars so how are they bothering you?
I think Indians have always been heavily invested in your personal life, Mark.
I noticed that a long time ago.
Sidenote: I’m not Indian, just a keen observer?
None of your arguments make any logical sense.
atleast one good thing is now expats can own pickup if this is true. 🙂
Now you’re telling me what I should or shouldn’t write about on my own blog? Do people tell you what to do all day so now you think this is something normal?
Why do you want to have more than 3 cars? Are you collecting them?
Not collecting, just like having them, they’re classics
A limit of 3 cars are actually the best thing ever. Anymore and look at the state of the country with cars being left anywhere and everywhere.
3 car limit isn’t gonna help that dude
People talking about how many cars one person can have, nobody is asking the important question. Can expat own a pick up truck as of now? Like, can I go now to the dealership and just pick up a pick up truck? Is this correct?
Finally the real question! Because pickups were the final frontier where I could tell my breed apart. Without hesitation or doubt I knew it would be one of my own when I see another pickup. Now I have to doubt whether it’s an ajnabi!? Oh no!! The shame!!
Another curious expat here as well
That’s what the article says…doesn’t it?
I’m super curious about this as well
I d0n’t really see the issue with 0wning m0re than three cars either. At the end 0f the day, 0nly 0ne car can be driven at a time, s0 it’s n0t like having multiple vehicles automatically clogs the r0ads.
For many pe0ple, cars are m0re than just transp0rtation—they’re ab0ut lifestyle, passi0n, and ch0ice.
• 🚗 A sp0rts car f0r when y0u want speed and excitement.
• 🚙 An SUV f0r camping trips 0r family adventures.
• 🚘 A classic car f0r th0se long, scenic drives in pleasant weather.
It’s n0 different fr0m s0me0ne collecting watches, guitars, 0r sneakers—each 0ne serves a different m00d 0r 0ccasion. As long as the cars are maintained and resp0nsibly used, having a variety just adds t0 the j0y 0f driving.
I think there’s something wrong with your Ai.
Or maybe his ‘o’ key
Correct. 0n s0cial media platf0rms, my o is 0 🙂
except for the ” correct “
Great shot! i am gonna use it for my phone background ; )
the issue is not driving all at the same time, the issue is that most apartments usually don’t have more than 2 parking spaces per flat. So an expat owning more than 2 cars would obviously have no where to park his/her cars, resulting in overcrowding other parking spaces. The other issue is regarding those who sell/flip used cars and have usually more than 50 cars under their name. Where do u think all those cars end up being parked?
While were on the subject, does it specify 3 cars or 3 vehicles?? so for example if i own 2 cars, a bike and a jet ski can I register them all under my name?
The issue is most apartment buildings don’t even have 1 parking spot for each flat let alone 2.
Came here to say this, I live in a complex with a decent amount of parking for tenants. However there’s this guy who flips cars and at any given point of time there are 10 cars parked in the most accessible parking spots (closest to the building / shaded). What pisses me off is they are parked for months and I have to hunt for parking in random spaces. The building management doesn’t care.
I’m hoping the new rule will address this. The problem in Kuwait is there is always someone flouting the rules and then everyone pays the price for it.
Same here. But The car flipper in my building uses a company Licence to do this. So capping expat car ownership doesn’t help.
The logic is simple, if you build 100 apartments with 20 parking spots, the solution is not limiting the number of cars, but building more parking spaces.
Have someone who needs more spaces that what is allocated? Perfect opportunity to rent them a spot to park their vehicles, from the excess spots you built.
This would be like the single most lazy excuse of penalizing the hapless expat for poor planning and regulation. Why would anyone permit the construction of a building without the provision to park.
How does it work out for the non-Kuwaiti/Bidoon? We know the rules for Kuwaitis and expats but curious about how are the non-Kuwaiti/Bidoon treated in this regard?
Instead of capping 3 cars; perhaps increase (3x) the registration or insurance fees for additional cars. WinWin
This is actually very smart. You should consult them
I would aggressively increase the fees exponentially for every additional car. 1 car? Fair. 2, Pay more. 3, pay a lot. Etc.
Maybe after 3 cars it’s the same fee? 😅
why would anyone need more than 3 cars ? one is more than enough maybe 2 but 3 is waay too much .
why is 2 ok and 3 not ok? whats the difference?
Cursed comments. I can’t imagine how you deal with this Mark haha
When is this regualation coming to life? I asked the someone from Ford and he said expats still cannot register trucks.
Did any expatriate brought or transferred a pickup to there name ?
My fellow humans ! please understand the difference between collecting, using and flipping cars . its all different.
Any updates on whether an expat actually managed to buy or transfer a pickup to his/her name?
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