Kuwait has introduced stricter amendments to its citizenship laws aimed at protecting national identity, strengthening regulations governing citizenship and reaffirming the state’s authority over citizenship matters. The changes also include plans to introduce digital citizenship certificates as part of the country’s move towards paperless government services.
An explanatory note on the amendments was published in the official gazette Kuwait Al-Youm on Monday. The changes are intended to clarify procedures related to granting and revoking Kuwaiti citizenship and strengthen legal controls over citizenship-related matters.
Four Key Objectives
The amendments focus on four main areas:
- Protecting Kuwait’s sovereignty over citizenship matters.
- Restricting individuals who acquired Kuwaiti citizenship through naturalisation from voting, standing for election or being appointed to parliamentary institutions.
- Reinforcing the constitutional requirement that members of parliamentary institutions must be Kuwaiti citizens by birth.
- Introducing electronic citizenship certificates as part of Kuwait’s digital transformation and shift towards paperless government services.
Citizenship Can Be Revoked in Certain Cases
Under the amended provisions, Kuwaiti citizenship may be revoked if it is established that a person deliberately included someone who was not their biological child or descendant in their citizenship file.
The provisions also extend to the person’s children and descendants if they were aware of the false information but deliberately concealed it from the relevant authorities.
