The Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs and Defense of Kuwait approved at its meeting on Tuesday the amendments submitted to section 8 of the Kuwaiti Nationality Law, concerning the granting of citizenship to the wife of a Kuwaiti, with the unanimous consent of the committee members present.
The head of the Parliamentary Committee on Interior and Defense, MP Saadoun Hammad, said that the Committee on Interior and Defense had concluded by amending Article 8 of the Citizenship Law, according to which the marriage of a foreign woman to a Kuwaiti does not entail that she becomes a Kuwaiti if she will not announce to the Minister of the Interior. Her internal desire to obtain Kuwaiti citizenship and marital relations continue for a period of 18 years from the date of marriage, and this period is reduced to 10 years if the wife is a citizen of one of the countries of the Persian Gulf. This was reported by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas.
In a statement to reporters, Hammad added: “The Minister of the Interior, before issuing a citizenship certificate to a Kuwaiti wife, may deprive her of Kuwaiti citizenship by subordination to her husband. Until the end of the ‘marriage’, she retained her residence in Kuwait.” by 18 years, which should be reduced to 10 years if she was a citizen of one of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, indicating that she could be granted Kuwaiti citizenship by decree based on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior.
Hammad said: Emir Decree No. 15 of 1959 of the Kuwaiti Citizenship Law adds a new Article No. 8 bis, which states: The Minister of the Interior may treat the foreign wife of a Kuwaiti “as a Kuwaiti” after declaring her desire to acquire Kuwaiti citizenship, and on the continuation of the “marriage” for a period of 3 years. From the date of marriage, and he can release her from the date of marriage if she gave birth during it, and her “Kuwaiti deal” is canceled if the marital relationship ends in divorce for 5 years before the date of marriage.
Hammad continued: If the “marriage” ends with the death of the husband, the “Kuwaiti regime” can be applied to the widow if she declared her will before or after death and she has a son or children from her husband. Kuwait, and the Council of Ministers issues a decision stating the benefits and benefits included in the “Kuwait deal”. The Minister of the Interior has the power to terminate the “Kuwait Deal” in all cases in accordance with the public interest.
The most important modifications
18 years to naturalize a foreign wife.
10 years for naturalizing a Gulf wife.
Treating wife as a Kuwaiti woman after the “declaration of desire”.
A widow is considered Kuwaiti if there is a declaration of desire.
