Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahd Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah issued three ministerial decisions that delegate authority to sign official documents to senior figures in the General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents. The decrees, numbered 1415 through 1417 for 2026, focus on passports compliant with Article 17 of the 1962 law as well as nationality certificates. According to the ministry, the measures replace earlier authorizations to align with current departmental leadership and operational needs.
Ministerial Decision 1415 authorizes Brigadier Abdulrahman Najeeb Al-Othman, the director general, along with Brigadier Legal Muhammad Mazeed Al-Mazeed, the assistant director general, to sign Kuwaiti passports. A separate decision grants Al-Mazeed authority to sign nationality certificates issued by the directorate. Decision 1417 extends similar signing powers for nationality certificates to Lieutenant Colonel Legal Ibrahim Hamad Abdullah Al-Busaili, who serves as assistant director of the nationality department.
The Ministry of Interior’s Decision 1414 formally cancels a prior order from 2025 that had outlined previous delegations for these signatures. All new decisions take effect immediately upon issuance and must be published in the official gazette. The undersecretary of the ministry has been tasked with implementing the revocation and ensuring a smooth transition.
The General Directorate of Nationality and Travel Documents manages core processes for citizenship verification and passport issuance across the country. Public Authority for Civil Information figures place Kuwait’s citizen population at roughly 1.57 million as of late 2024, within a total population of about 4.88 million. This scale underscores the directorate’s role in handling high volumes of documentation requests.
Official publications this month recorded decrees withdrawing nationality from 2,193 individuals and associated dependents, according to the Kuwaiti gazette. Such reviews have increased the directorate’s workload on related certificates and travel documents in recent weeks. The updated signing authorities aim to support timely processing amid these administrative demands.
The ministerial actions reflect standard updates to delegation frameworks within the Ministry of Interior rather than shifts in eligibility rules or broader policy. No alterations to the underlying legal requirements for passports or nationality were introduced in the decisions. The named officials already occupy established leadership posts, providing continuity for ongoing operations at the directorate.
