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Kuwaiti nationality law

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Kuwaiti Citizenship Act
Cabinet of Kuwait
  • An Act relating to a Kuwaiti citizenship
Enacted byGovernment of Kuwait
Status: Current legislation

The Kuwaiti nationality law is the legal pathway for non-nationals to become citizens of the State of Kuwait. The Kuwaiti nationality law is based on a wide range of decrees; first passed in 1920 and then in 1959 and 1960. A number of amendments have been made over the years. Since the 1960s, the implementation of the nationality law has been very arbitrary and lacks transparency.[1][2] The lack of transparency prevents non-nationals from receiving a fair opportunity to obtain citizenship.[2]

History of naturalization in Kuwait

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The State of Kuwait formally has an official Nationality Law which grants non-nationals a legal pathway to obtain citizenship.[1] However, access to citizenship in Kuwait is autocratically controlled by the Al Sabah ruling family, it is not subject to any external regulatory supervision.[3][1] The implementation of the Nationality Law is arbitrarily implemented and lack transparency.[1][3] The lack of transparency prevents non-nationals from receiving a fair opportunity to obtain citizenship.[2][3] Consequently, the Al Sabah ruling family have been able to manipulate naturalization for politically-motivated reasons.[3][4][5][6][7][2][8][9][10] In the three decades after independence in 1961, the Al Sabah ruling family naturalized hundreds of thousands of foreign Bedouin immigrants predominantly from Saudi Arabia.[6][11][3][8][4][9][5][2][10][12] By the year 1980, as many as 200,000 immigrants were naturalized in Kuwait.[11] Throughout the 1980s, the Al Sabah's politically-motivated naturalization policy continued.[11][3] The naturalizations were not regulated nor sanctioned by Kuwaiti law.[3][4][6][12] The exact number of naturalizations is unknown but it is estimated that up to 400,000 immigrants were unlawfully naturalized in Kuwait.[12][6] The foreign Bedouin immigrants were mainly naturalized to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen population in a way that makes the power of the Al Sabah ruling family more secure.[7][3][4][6] As a result of the politically-motivated naturalizations, the number of naturalized citizens exceeds the number of Bedoon in Kuwait.[2] The Al Sabah ruling family actively encouraged foreign Bedouin immigrants to migrate to Kuwait,[11] the Al Sabah ruling family favored naturalizing Bedouin immigrants because they were considered loyal to the ruling family unlike the politically active Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian expats in Kuwait.[11] The naturalized citizens were predominantly Sunni Saudi immigrants from southern tribes.[10][6][4] Accordingly, there are no stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belonging to the Ajman tribe.[4]

Most stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to northern tribes (especially Al-Muntafiq).[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] The northern tribes of Kuwait are predominantly Shia Muslims.[20] A minority of stateless Bedoon in Kuwait belong to Kuwait's 'Ajam community.[21] The Kuwaiti judicial system's lack of authority to rule on citizenship further complicates the Bedoon crisis, leaving Bedoon no access to the judiciary to present evidence and plead their case for citizenship.[2] Although non-nationals constitute 70% of Kuwait's total population, the Al Sabah ruling family persistently denies citizenship to most non-nationals including those who fully satisfy the requirements for naturalization as stipulated in the state's official Nationality Law. The Kuwaiti authorities permit the forgeries of hundreds of thousands of politically-motivated naturalizations,[2][12] while simultaneously denying citizenship to the Bedoon.[2][12] The politically-motivated naturalizations were noted by the United Nations, political activists, scholars, researchers, and even members of the Al Sabah family.[2][3][4][6][7][5][22][8][11][9][12] It is widely considered a form of deliberate demographic engineering.[23] It has been likened to Bahrain's politically-motivated naturalization policy.[3][7][10] Within the GCC countries, politically-motivated naturalization policies are referred to as "political naturalization" (التجنيس السياسي).[3]

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Kuwait has more than 300 non-Muslim citizens, mostly Christians and Bahais. In 1982, the parliament amended the constitution to bar non-Muslims from naturalization. There have been multiple proposals made to amend the nationality law to allow non-Muslims to become citizens, but in 2019 the government made clear that its policy was to keep "the current text."[24][25][26][27][28]

The late Nabeel al-Fadhel submitted an inquiry to the Constitutional Court questioning the constitutionality of barring non-Muslims from obtaining the Kuwaiti nationality. The most recent proposal was made by Saleh Ashour who suggested the repeal of item 5 of article 4 of the nationality law.[29]

Citizenship revocation

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The revocation of citizenship is a contentious human rights issue in Kuwait.[30][31] According to Carnegie Endowment, Kuwait has weaponized citizenship revocation as a tool for political control.[23] The government has the authority to strip individuals of their Kuwaiti citizenship without providing any reason and Kuwait's courts are not allowed to handle appeals.[30] The lack of judicial oversight means that citizenship revocation occurs without a fair trial or an opportunity for appeal.[30]

The lack of transparency and recourse in the process of revoking citizenship, as well as its arbitrary application, is a violation of human rights.[31][30] The practice affects both citizens and, to some extent, long-term residents such as the stateless Bedoon community. A specific issue is that once an individual's citizenship is revoked, they may be referred to the "Central Agency for Illegal Residents," which handles stateless individuals,[32] further deepening the issue of statelessness in Kuwait.[31][30]

Kuwait’s citizenship revocation policy contradicts international treaties such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "everyone has the right to a nationality" and "no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality."[30][31] Human rights organizations have raised concerns over the potential for statelessness, lack of due process in citizenship revocations, and the discriminatory impact on vulnerable groups, including Bedoon, women, Shia Muslims, and naturalized citizens.[30][31] For example, the policy impacts Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaiti men, as children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis are not granted citizenship, further complicating their legal status in the country.[32]

Since March 2024, Kuwait has witnessed a significant increase in the revocation of citizenships.[31][30][33] Neveen Ma'arafi (Arabic: نيفين معرفي, lit. 'Neveen Ma'arafi') claimed that "There is a special law about the Kuwaiti Nationality that organizes the way to gain citizenship, what happened is that it appeared to the government that there are people who gained the citizenship through illegal ways, and there are those who gained the Kuwaiti citizenship then they were chosen to gain another citizenship whilst they were originally of Kuwaiti citizenship, the Kuwait citizenship system does not allow dual citizenship, therefore the citizen loses their Kuwaiti citizenship or they are made to choose between the two citizenship." - A human rights defender disputed her claims, stating that in many cases this is not true and citizenship revocation can be random.[33]

By early December 2024, the Emir issued a decree to revoke the Kuwaiti citizenship of singer Nawal Al-Kuwaitia, actor Dawood Hussein, and his children who were automatically granted citizenship through paternal affiliation.[34][35][36] The decree also included Egyptian-Kuwaiti media personality and blogger Noha Nabil.[34][35][36] The Emir's Supreme Committee for Nationality Affairs decided during its Thursday meeting to revoke the Kuwaiti citizenship of 1,758 individuals, including Nawal Al-Kuwaitia and Dawood Hussein, with the cases to be presented to the Kuwaiti Cabinet for further action.[34][35][36]

Travel freedom

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Main article: Visa requirements for Kuwaiti citizens
Visa requirements for Kuwaiti citizens

In 2016, Kuwaiti citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 82 countries and territories, ranking the Kuwaiti passport 57th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.

Nationality Law

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Original Kuwaitis

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An original Kuwaiti is a person who settled in Kuwait before 1920. A person who believes that he has maintained his normal residence in Kuwait even though he is living in another country if he has intended to go back to Kuwait is also an original Kuwaiti.

By Birth

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Children born to unknown parents in Kuwait are considered to be Kuwaiti citizens by birth.
Children born to foreign parents in Kuwait will not be entitled for Kuwaiti Citizenship

By Descent

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A child born to a Kuwaiti father irrespective of the place of birth is a Kuwaiti citizen.

A child born to a Kuwaiti mother and an unknown father (i.e. out-of-wedlock) irrespective of place is a Kuwaiti citizen.[37] However, Kuwaiti women who have sex out-of-marriage voluntarily and get pregnant in Kuwait can face jail terms along with her partner.[38]

By Marriage

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Wife of a Kuwaiti man

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The wife may be granted citizenship only if she declares her wish to be Kuwaiti. She may be granted citizenship only after 18 years for foreigners and 10 years for female citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council countries from the date of her wish to become a Kuwaiti. The Minister of Interior has the right to reduce the number of years.[39][40] The Kuwaiti husband has to be a Muslim in order to pass his citizenship to his wife.[41] A wife whose husband was naturalized as a Kuwaiti may be granted citizenship only if she declares her wish to be a Kuwaiti within one year of her husband's naturalization. The children of the naturalization are considered to be Kuwaiti. They can decide whether they want to be Kuwaiti or attain the nationality of the parent's previous citizenship. Termination of marriage will not normally lead to revoking of citizenship. The wife of a husband who takes up the nationality of another country may not lose her nationality unless she wishes to do so. The children of their father who is a naturalized citizen of another nation may not get to keep their Kuwaiti citizenship and have to attain the citizenship of the father. The children may keep their nationality if the law of that country allows it. The children can get back their Kuwaiti citizenship upon attaining the age of majority.

Husband of Kuwaiti woman

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A foreign husband of Kuwaiti woman is not thereby entitled to become a citizen. Their children are not entitled to become citizens unless the father is dead, a POW or has divorced the Kuwaiti mother. Proposals has been made to allow foreign husbands and the children of Kuwaiti women to be naturalized.[42]

Participation in Parliament

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In theory, he/she may not participate in Parliament of Kuwait for the next 30 years if the person is born to unknown parents, a naturalized citizen, a foreign wife of a foreigner who is granted citizenship or a foreign wife of a Kuwaiti who was granted citizenship.

Loss of Kuwaiti citizenship

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He or she may lose their citizenship if they:

  • Committed a fraud and declared citizenship without satisfying the necessary legal criteria. In this case the citizenship of any dependent person may also be revoked.
  • are convicted of a crime related to honor or honesty within 15 years of grant of naturalization.
  • are dismissed from public office on disciplinary grounds related to honesty or honor within 10 years of grant of naturalization.
  • are or were working for a foreign state and plan on seriously to undermine the economic or social structure. The authorities must need proof that he is doing so to revoke her or his citizenship.

Denial of Kuwaiti citizenship

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A person may be denied citizenship if they satisfy the following:

  • has begun work in a foreign state in their military
  • has worked for a foreign state which has been in war or has suspended diplomatic relations.
  • Is a resident in a country abroad and join an association which is plans to seriously undermine the economic or social structure or has been convicted of an offense that involves such a situation.

Any person may be restored or revoked of their citizenship if they have satisfied the above.

Restrictions and points to remember while obtaining citizenship

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  • The Head of the Police Department will give a certificate stating that the person is Kuwaiti.
  • Proof may be asked while obtaining citizenship
  • After the certificate is given an investigation will be carried out. If the investigation finds that the certificate was obtained on the basis of fraud, it will be taken back.
  • No Kuwaiti passport will be given for 2 years.
  • If a person has given incorrect statements orally or written, the person may be imprisoned for up to 3 years and/or be fined up to 200 KD. If the person has furnished statements which are false, the person may be imprisoned for not more than seven years and/or be fined 500 KD.
  • Any passport which has been given to a person in the 2 years as told above will be invalid on the expiration of that two-year period.

Dual nationality

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Kuwait does not recognize dual nationality.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "IV. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON ORIGIN AND STATUS: THE BIDUN". Human Rights Watch. 2000.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Human Rights Council, Forty-sixth session, 22 February–19 March 2021, Agenda item 3, Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. Written statement* submitted by International Council. Supporting Fair Trial and Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization in special consultative status. The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31". United Nations. 17 February 2021. p. 2.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. Bloomsbury. pp. 100–110. ISBN 9781838605063. Political naturalizations of tribesmen
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Claire Beaugrand. "Statelessness and Transnationalism in Northern Arabia: Biduns and State Building in Kuwait, 1959-2009" (PDF). p. 137. Extra-Legal Naturalisations and Population Statistics
  5. ^ a b c Frederic Wehrey, ed. (February 2018). Beyond Sunni and Shia: The Roots of Sectarianism in a Changing Middle East. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780190911195. To counter the strong influence of Arab nationalism in the decades after independence in 1961, Kuwait naturalized more than 200,000 Bedouin tribesmen to serve as a reliable pro-government bloc in parliament.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rivka Azoulay (2020). Kuwait and Al-Sabah: Tribal Politics and Power in an Oil State. Bloomsbury. p. 21. ISBN 9781838605063.
  7. ^ a b c d Michael Herb (18 December 2014). The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801454684. How then do we explain the naturalizations that have occurred in the Gulf states in the past, such as the granting of citizenship to thousands of bedu (bedouin) by Kuwait in the 1960s and 1970s? Typically these naturalizations were imposed by the ruling families and were designed to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen society in a way that made the power of the ruling families more secure
  8. ^ a b c Gwenn Okruhlik (February 8, 2012). "The identity politics of Kuwait's election". Foreign Policy.
  9. ^ a b c Justin Gengler (August 29, 2016). "The Political Economy of Sectarianism in the Gulf". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
  10. ^ a b c d John Warner (April 17, 2013). "Questioning Sectarianism in Bahrain and Beyond: An Interview with Justin Gengler". Jadaliyya.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Andrzej Kapiszewski (2005). "Non-indigenous citizens and "stateless" residents in the Gulf monarchies. The Kuwaiti bidun" (PDF). p. 70.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Sheikh Sabah Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah (February 10, 2018). "اتقوا الله وجنِّسوا الكويتيين البدون". Al-Shahed Newspaper (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2021-03-04.
  13. ^ Eman Shams Aldeen (September 19, 2012). "البدون فــي الكويـــت.. مواطنون بلا هوية". As-Safir Al-Arabi (in Arabic).
  14. ^ Fayez Alfayez (February 26, 2021). "أزمة الهوية الوطنية - د. فايز الفايز". Platform Post (in Arabic).
  15. ^ Ahmad Jaber (February 2021). "Critical sociolinguistic ethnography as a lens to statelessness: a case from the Bidoon community in Kuwait".
  16. ^ "No Dignity for Kuwait's 'Humanitarian' State - Kuwaiti's Laws and Policies of Ethnic Discrimination, Erasure and Genocide Against The Bedoon Minority Submission on 'Human Rights Protections for Minorities Recognised in the UN System'". Susan Kennedy Nour al Deen. 2020.
  17. ^ Report to the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - Annual Study. Bedoon Indigenous Rights in the Context of Borders, Migration and Displacement (PDF) (Thesis). OHCHR. 2019. p. 1–63.
  18. ^ "Stateless Bedoons Are Shut Out of Kuwait". The Christian Science Monitor. 1991.
  19. ^ Susan Kennedy Nour al Deen (2018). "The Bedoun Archive: A public archive created for the northern tribes Bedouin of Kuwait".
  20. ^ Enam al-Wer, Rudolf Erik de Jong, ed. (2009). Arabic Dialectology: In Honour of Clive Holes on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday. Vol. 53. Brill. pp. 99–100. ISBN 9789047425595.
  21. ^ Ajam Media Collective (2018). "Between Two Deserts: Visual Vignettes from an Iranian-Kuwaiti Bidoon in New Mexico".
  22. ^ Mohammad E. Alhabib (2010). The Shia Migration from Southwestern Iran to Kuwait: Push-Pull Factors during the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Thesis). Georgia State University. p. 46.
  23. ^ a b Mohammad Al-Mailam (July 2023). "Kuwait's Stateless Stalemate: How the Weaponization of Citizenship Transformed State and Society". Carnegie Endowment.
  24. ^ "Kuwaiti MP calls for rethink on citizenship rules - ArabianBusiness.com". arabianbusiness.com. Retrieved 13 Aug 2015.
  25. ^ "Arab Times -Leading English Daily in Kuwait". Arabtimesonline.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  26. ^ "Kuwait Government Online". e.gov.kw. Retrieved 13 Aug 2015.
  27. ^ "Kuwait". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 13 Aug 2015.
  28. ^ Non-Muslims cannot obtain Kuwaiti citizenship (17 January 2019). "Non-Muslims cannot obtain Kuwaiti citizenship - ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS". Arabtimesonline.com. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
  29. ^ "Panel to discuss modifications to conscription law: Al-Tamimi". Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved 13 Aug 2015.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h "Kuwaiti Citizenship and Punitive Revocation". ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies. April 2024.
  31. ^ a b c d e f "Kuwait's Unlawful Citizenship Revocations: a Tool of Repression Leading to Statelessness". Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB). July 2024.
  32. ^ a b "«الداخلية»: إلغاء جميع طلبات الحصول على الجنسية لحملة «إحصاء 65»" ["Interior": Cancellation of all citizenship applications for "Census 65" holders]. Archived from the original on 2024-09-27.
  33. ^ a b "الكويت: لماذا سحبت الجنسية من مئات المواطنين؟ - يستحق الانتباه - Arabic". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  34. ^ a b c "سحب الجنسية: داوود حسين ونوال الكويتية "بدون جنسية" بعد القرار الجديد في الكويت". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 2024-12-01. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  35. ^ a b c "الكويت.. سحب الجنسية من داود حسين ونوال الكويتية". CNN Arabic (in Arabic). 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  36. ^ a b c "الكويت تقر سحب الجنسية من الفنان داود حسين والمطربة نوال الكويتية". العربية (in Arabic). 2024-11-30. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  37. ^ "Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention" (PDF). United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 6 January 2017. p. 43. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  38. ^ "World Report 2010: Rights Trends in Kuwait". Human Rights Watch. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  39. ^ "تجنيس زوجة الكويتي "الأجنبية" بعد 18 سنة.. والخليجية بعد 10 سنوات". aljarida.com (in Arabic). 22 June 2022.
  40. ^ ""تجنيس زوجات الكويتيين"... بعد 18 عاماً". alraimedia.com (in Arabic). 23 March 2022.
  41. ^ "Kuwaiti Christians". Life in Kuwait. Crazy in Kuwait. 1 Aug 2012. Retrieved 27 Jan 2015.
  42. ^ "Move to naturalize children of Kuwaiti windows, divorcees". Arab Times. 22 Jan 2015. Retrieved 27 Jan 2015.
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