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Driving License of expats to be renewed for a period of one year

01 May 2023

Kuwait’s traffic department recently announced that driving licenses of expats would be renewed only for a period of one year, instead of three years unlike the present.

The decision is effective since 26th April 2023. The department however said that driving licenses of expats working as domestic drivers will be renewed for three years.

The decision, however, did not reveal why the validity of licences have been fixed for one year.

The interior ministry however, several weeks ago, said that it is reviewing hundreds of thousands of driving licenses issued to expats to ensure that they are as per the law, amidst reports alleging widespread corruption. According to local media sources, thousands of licenses held by expats may be cancelled.

Kuwait generally has stringent rules in place for expats seeking driver’s license. These include factors like the applicant should be drawing a minimum monthly salary of KD600, should have a university degree, should have stayed legally in the country for at least two years.

Several professions such as the engineers, judges, doctors and others, are exempted from such conditions.

Driving licenses for expats were valid for at least a decade in the past, but later, its validity was linked to the validity of their residency. Later, the traffic department reduced the validity to one year for several years, and later in 2020, extended the validity to three years.

Robin Vinod

Writer/blogger who writes on topics such as travel, real estate, employment and everyday life on GCC countries.