Kuwait’s Central Agency for Remedying Illegal Residents’ Status (CARIRS)
has revoked the citizenship of more than 10,000 people with dual
nationality between 2011 and last month, the KUNA news agency has
reported.
According to the agency, the step is the result of a full decade of
Kuwaiti efforts to address the dual nationality file, and comes as a
culmination of a campaign that began last year to confront those who
obtain Kuwaiti citizenship illegally. Almost 1,000 such people have been
detected to date. Kuwait does not recognise dual nationality and
children with dual nationality have two years after reaching the age of
18 to decide whether to retain Kuwaiti nationality or keep their other
nationality.
The Director of the Situation Amendment Department in CARIRS, General
Muhammad Al-Wahib, told KUNA that 6,054 residents’ status had been
changed to Saudi nationality; 1,188 to Iraqi nationality; 868 to Syrian
nationality; 131 to Iranian nationality; 53 to Jordanian nationality;
and 1,962 to other nationalities.
Al-Wahib pointed out that these statistics include individuals who have
parents or relatives who own documents from different nationalities and
do not include those who have other relatives with proven nationality.
He called on those wishing to amend their status to visit CARIRS in the
Eastern Region, to settle their residencies and regularise their status
according to the residency laws in force in Kuwait.
The Gulf state has in recent years intensified efforts to amend the
status of those residing illegally in the country.