The Kuwait government has increased the validity period of driving licenses. Now the driving license will be valid for 15 years for Kuwaiti citizens and citizens of Gulf countries (GCC), while for expatriate residents its validity has been made 5 years. Earlier this period was only 3 years for expatriates.
This decision was taken by Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al-Sabah by issuing an order. This is considered a major change in the country’s driving license rules.
As per the new rules:
- Driving licences for overseas residents will now be valid for 5 years.
- For Kuwaiti citizens and citizens of Gulf countries, the validity will be 15 years (earlier it was 10 years).
- For stateless residents, the validity of the licence will still be linked to the validity of their ID document.
In the past few years, the validity of the license of non-residents was once limited to just 1 year. A few months ago, it was made 3 years, and now it has been made straight to 5 years.
The rules for obtaining a driving license for expatriates in Kuwait are quite strict. For this, they must have a university degree and it is also mandatory to live legally in Kuwait for at least two years.
