The Ministry of Interior issued Decision No. 1091 of 2026 which was published in Sunday’s edition of the official gazette Kuwait Alyoum amending Ministerial Decision No. 2249 of 2025. The change inserts a new Clause 4 into Paragraph Nine of Article 39 within the executive regulations of the Foreigners Residence Law requiring payment of KD 150 for conversions under Article 16. Domestic workers are exempted from the fee per Article 20 of the rules and the decision took effect immediately upon publication in the gazette. Relevant authorities received instructions to implement the measure across their jurisdictions according to the ministry document.
Public Authority for Civil Information figures place Kuwait’s expatriate population at roughly 3.3 million more than two-thirds of the total residents. A December 2025 review by Middle East Briefing outlined new residency regulations that set most visit visas at KD 10 per month with validity up to one year and permitted transfers to residency in specified cases. The KD 150 conversion fee integrates into this sequence of administrative adjustments to the visa and residency framework the briefing indicated.
In mid-June 2026 the Ministry of Interior announced a separate resolution granting eligible foreign investors senior executives and their families residency permits valid for up to 15 years an Erickson Immigration Group analysis reported. That framework tied the long-term permits to minimum capital requirements Kuwaiti national employment quotas and active business operations within the country. The new KD 150 fee applies to standard visit visa conversions outside those specialized investor categories according to the published decisions.
The Ministry of Interior had earlier in 2026 directed automatic one-month extensions for all types of expiring visit visas together with three-month extensions for absence permits in response to prevailing conditions OSAC security updates noted. Those extensions included waivers of associated fees and fines during the covered periods the ministry statements confirmed. The latest amendment on conversion charges continues the pattern of procedural refinements for managing residency transactions among the expatriate community.
A Fragomen immigration summary from prior years illustrated how family residency issuance has periodically been adjusted with salary thresholds and age-specific rules for dependents. The current decision maintains core eligibility standards for residency while layering the service fee onto the conversion pathway for most applicants. The General Department of Residency Affairs will oversee day-to-day application of the updated fee structure under the Ministry of Interior’s direction.
