Last night when I got back to Kuwait from a quick trip to Doha I noticed they changed the queue system at passport control.
When I came down the escalators I noticed majority of the immigration counters were practically empty which was a relief since I really didn’t want to spend an hour in line. But then as I got closer I noticed something odd. On the far left was a large crowd of expats, when I looked carefully I noticed all the empty counters were for GCC nationals and that expats needed to enter a queue on the far left.
So I got into the queue which truthfully was moving fast. It was one long queue that served all the expat counters which is something I prefer over having individual queues for each counter. It’s actually been proven to be more efficient which is why it’s used in other countries. There was an officer at the end of the end of the queue who was directing the expats to available counters as they free up. It’s like finally, a proper system.
But, I had a major issue was with the visual appearance of the passport control area (put aside the floor tiles that wouldn’t look out of place in a bathroom). My big issue was how they had the large wide open space for GCC nationals and then had all the expats squeezed into the far left corner like cattle (check below illustration for an overhead look).
I don’t mind there be more counters for GCC nationals over expats, but at least have the expats queue wider and take up more space. Right now the expats are squeezed into 25% of the space while the other 75% is left open for GCC nationals. It really looked degrading the way we were all squeezed off to the side and it’s definitely not a great first impression for visitors on arrival.
58 replies on “New Queue System at Airport Passport Control”
Welcome to Kuwait International Airport, where if you’re not Kuwaiti, you don’t matter – into that stuffy line you go now, yallaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
I have seen Americans/Europeans being asked to move to the Crew Only booth when there was a crowd from South Asian countries. About 300 or so passengers were moved to only 2 booths. Above that, you have the immigration officers playing on their phones and constantly leaving/chatting with their colleagues.
yep the fucking white entitlement starts early once you get to kuwait
So now they finally done with the renovations ?
Even the GCC section should have that system, and they did when I came through a few weeks ago, and it moved really quick. Obviously someone made them change back to the old scheme, which honestly doesn’t make sense.
Yeah the new system is much more efficient, they should divide the space in half with both sides having this new queuing system
The space should shift depending on the traffic instead of having a hard limit of 50/50 or 75/25.
Kuwait’s turning into a true apartheid state, heaven help us…
the queue for GCC and expat have been there since the 80’s
and that is not a sign , in Europe and USA i go to another queue not like their citizens
The difference is that the number of counters open in other countries are proportional to the people there. For example, they have 5 lines open for other nationalities and 2 for citizens. Not the other way around.
Turning into? It’s always been like that Laila – and airport lines are not even the tip of the iceberg.
In its early days, Kuwait was an open port, which attracted people from Africa, India and Iran in order to build its small maritime economy. Add to that the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Egyptians who help build our economy and education system in the 60s and 70s. In the past 4 decades, this openness was altered, slowly giving way to an apartheid state that is now spinning out of control and, which demonizes foreigners and privileges locals, with no relation to who is actually contributing to making this country grow. As a Kuwaiti, this system does not represent me and I am not OK with it.
:O
i think i might be in love with you … but they’d never allow us to be together. It sucks to be south asian in Kuwait 😛
i’m joking of course
I’m afraid even if her name was Human Rights instead of Laila, she wouldn’t agree to a South Asian.
Here’s the acceptable list for Kuwaiti women:
Kuwaiti (Same Family)
Kuwaiti (Same Sect)
Kuwaiti (Rich)
Saudi (Same family branch)
Saudi (Rich)
Bahraini (Same family branch)
Bahraini (Rich)
Emarati (Same family branch)
Emarati (Rich)
Qatari (Same family branch)
Qatari (Rich)
The maybe list:
Omani (Rich)
Lebanese/Jordanian (Rich)
Lebanese/Jordanian (Originally from that area)
European (Muslim and her family is liberal)
American (Muslim and her family is liberal)
European (Plan on eloping)
American (Plan on eloping)
The banned list:
Rest of the world
hahahahahaha thats an amazing guide
+1
heh – well. At least I know where i stand 😛
You have to really fucking laugh at this though don’t you. There’s nothing else to do about it.
Also gives a completely new spin to the world liberal eh?
Thats funny because I am a religious Muslim who is Puerto Rican married to a Kuwait whose family are religious. My wife’s sister is married to a American too. Infact many in my wife’s family are married to foreigners. And these are not Bidoon btw. These ara daraja oula. Its also funny how inthe USA, Canada, and UK most Desi will be disowned by their own mothers for marrying a Farengi (non Desi). Infact I have seen many instances where Arabs and Desi would try to try to kill anyone who was not one of them yet tried to marry one of their women. But I guess its okay because they are not Kuwaiti.
I will try talking to my contacts at the airport and see if they can put a red carpet for the expats.
Without the expats, even the red carpet wouldn’t get laid…. next time when you pass thru the country, look around those toiling in 50+ degrees building your country..the same roads and bridges which are built by expatsuch and then come up with insane rules to keep them away from using the infrastructure…
The only country where graduate certificate is required to pay for driving license….beats everything…
Dude, if you disagree with the red carpet, suggest another colour, don’t be so anal about it.
What an idiotic statement from a conceited and obviously blind individual. Get your head out of the sand.
Let’s see what the Q80s readers comments.
in Europe airports us with EU passport has mostly only two lines while the rest is for “expats”
Yes Kuwait is going more and more backwards…
I don’t think Europe is any better. Heathrow airport staff are racist. There’s a new wave of xenophobia and hate crimes. Islamophobia is so rampant.
Why only Heathrow?!! You use heavy words like Xenophobia and Islamophobia … are your own country men/women not a party to it?
If they have upgraded the old system then maybe this issue will soon be fixed too.. I hope. I wanna know how these people think… Have they no concept of what common sense is?
I would prefer amiri terminal entry and exit. It quick fast and secure.
I was there in March. They didn’t even have the zig-zag set up for expats. it was just a clusterfuck and there was only one official checking the passports for the hundreds of people. It was degrading and I anger arose in me.
Yes, in the Europe and in the USA there are lines for citizens and non-citizens, but they are proportioned equally. Let’s face it, the lines should be switched. There should be more slots available for expats and less for the minority, GCC.
Why would a country treat its own citizens lesser? I don’t understand how you went from “other countries proportion equally” To “There should be less for GCC”
There are less GCC nationals coming to Kuwait comparatively speaking therefore less GCC lines. This is what proportionally equal lines are like.
I was going to request another airport for the expats…. well GCC citizens dont have any privileges in other countries so i guess they r taking their frustrations out in their own country….
Sad state of affairs… cant expect more from them…..
Thats a tad bit cold, pointless and untrue. where is god’s name did u get that complete load of crap?
Umm.. k.
Till you pass through that counter, you are on forced guilt trip…
If you can tell, at the far right in the first pic, there are four screens that are yellow. I was there before yesterday and they were said to be fixing the screens. I assume they are training more staff and then open those screens for the public. So if you only consider the open green screens for GCC nationals, it is actually proportioned equally. As many of your readers have said, there is a majority of expats, hence the need for a more efficient queue system. For that reason, the GCC nationals don’t need such a system. FYI, the demographics of all the GCC countries in total is 50% nationals and 50% expats. Just don’t like when information is being spread in a negative light just because it is too easy to be negative. Changes are happening, yet we have to understand and be realistic that it will just take a longer time, that’s all.
“Expatriates accounted for 70% of Kuwait’s total population in 2014, Kuwaitis are only 30% of the total population.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Kuwait
https://gulfmigration.eu/total-population-and-percentage-of-nationals-and-non-nationals-in-gcc-countries-latest-national-statistics-2010-2015/?print=pdf
Total GCC nationals: 51.9%.
Total Expats: 48.1%.
Total population: 50,359,763
For your ignorance Ibrahim,
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/kuwait-population/
-Expatriats account for about 70% of Kuwait’s population, including 1.1 million Arab expatriates and 1.4 million Asian expatriates.
https://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/more-than-2-4-million-expats-live-in-kuwait-1.1423714
-Foreigners, mainly unskilled Asian labourers in the construction sector and domestic helpers, make up two-thirds of the total population and the Asian community alone outnumbers Kuwaitis.
https://www.indexmundi.com/kuwait/demographics_profile.html
-Kuwaiti 31.3%, other Arab 27.9%, Asian 37.8%, African 1.9%, other 1.1% (includes European, North American, South American, and Australian) (2013 est.)
https://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/kuwait/kuwait_people.html
https://www.mapsofworld.com/kuwait/population.html
It’s Kuwait. Regarding expats of cattle.
I completely understand the need for a separate queue for GCC nationals, that’s how it is in Europe and America.The locals should be given priority, it is their country after all. Even in JFK, the citizens and green card holders have a separate line. But the fact where they have 15-20% of the area for expats considering 70% of the incoming traffic are expats is honestly stupid. They should have divided it into half or at least make separate counters for “Residents” instead of those on visit visa.
On another note, I hope they train the staff better, I honestly feel that’s more important. I bought a college friend of mine from the states to Kuwait for showing him around and the shit he saw at the airport scarred him.
Mark, I have been following your blog for more than 6 years now. I’m not sure if this would work, but have you tried contacting the Ministry of Tourism? If you contacted a higher official and showed them your blog, you could ask to be a visiting advisor or something of that sort. Maybe put forward ideas to the council regarding issues that could benefit Kuwait. Kuwait needs someone like you. Not sure how the ministry works but I have an uncle who proposed a few ideas to the ministry of defence and he was hired head of the defence program where they pay him to go to EU and other countries to help strengthen our security.
You seriously thought there is a ministry of tourism?
You can skip the line if you get them the Hala service or whatever it’s called. I always get it for visiting people.
The good ,The bad And The Racist !
the weird thing is that the government is supposedly trying to diversify the economy by turning Kuwait into an “international financial centre” yet the trend of treating expats like shit continues
+1
the cattle lineup remind me of Beirut Airport
That is why i left the expats queue and went to the GCC queues. They served me so nicely and i was done is a few minutes (i saved myself at least 45 min- 1 hr)
Sometimes I wonder why they don’t have token vending machines, enter your choice … Crew/Business/First Class … GCC/Citizens/Residents/Visitors/Groups/Families etc.
I understand some comments coming about uneducated and stuff, but once system is in place. It will be more streamlined and organized. Give it a thought.
Welcome to Kuwait – The sign says it all !!!
The main reason countries (such as Europe/USA) have separate desks for citizens/non-citizens is because the entry procedure is different. In Europe, if you have an EU passport, they just scan it and let you through, whereas non-citizens have to be “vetted”. It wouldn’t be fair for citizens to wait unnecessarily in a queue full of foreigners. Having said that, airport manpower has to be distributed proportionally.
All this talk of separate desks because it’s “their country” and want them to feel good is nonsense.
No problem! Let them thru, that leaves the counter open to receive the next recipient.
i have been in this situation before but when the GCC are done i mean if those counters are empty they do call people from the other Que
All these comments are pretty dumb to be honest.
Comparing other countries with this clusterfuck.
The other countries have seperate lines not because vip,status or treating their citizens better etc.
Because its a streamlined process for citizens. And they dont need to wait in a long line because of questioning every non cotizen, where are you going, whats the purpose of your trip etc etc.
But when the citizen line is free the push non citizens into the free counters.
So if this situation is going to stay the same, the lazy gcc side customs officers should not be playing angry birds when there is no gcc in line, the officer at the expact line should start directing the expacts to the free gcc counter .
its not about treatment its about a fast line and a slow line.
This is how it is in Kuwait, there isn’t a separate line because of vip status or treating citizens better, there is a separate line because the process for GCC citizens is quicker than expats
there can be more than one reason for the existence of things. It doesn’t have to be one or the other
BTW If you get the Hala service at the airport before you land you can skip the entire queue
It’s not racism it’s money 🙂
Btw the panel doesn’t say GCC nationals, it says GCC citizens, which is technically any of us with a valid residency permit.