Kuwait stops driving licences for foreign students

Kuwait will stop issuing new driving licences to expatriate students as well as foreign nurses in the country in line with a decree adopted last March, a local newspaper has reported.

A related ministerial decree was issued on March 18, but did not take effect at the time due to an outbreak of the new coronavirus that prompted shutdown of governmental services, a traffic official told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida.

Maj. Gen. Jamal Al Sayagh, the assistant undersecretary for traffic affairs, said, “Now that life is gradually returning to normal, the decree on non-issuance of driving licences for foreign students and nurses has been implemented.”

Students and nurses who already have driving licences can renew them by providing a registration certificate from the university or from the nurses’ employers respectively, the report said.

Expatriate students who have already received the driver’s form but have not yet completed the procedures will still be able to receive their licences.

Exempted from the ban are children, spouses, widows and divorcees of Kuwaitis as well as illegal residents who hold cards issued by the Central Agency readjusting their status, he elaborated.

The decision was taken as part of efforts by the General Traffic Department to reduce traffic congestion on the roads, Arab Times reported.