Approximately 70 percent of the unclaimed Civil ID cards belong to expatriates under residency Articles 18 and 22.
Kuwait: In response to a significant backlog of uncollected civil identity cards, the Public Authority for Civil Information in Kuwait is considering imposing fines on individuals who fail to claim their IDs within three months.
With an excess of 220,000 identity cards awaiting retrieval, this move aims to address the challenges posed by the underutilization of the “My Identity” application.
Director General Mansour Al Muthin disclosed that more than 220,000 civil identity cards are currently unclaimed within the Authority’s systems. Alarmingly, approximately 70 percent of these uncollected cards are attributed to expatriates under residency Articles 18 and 22. A significant contributor to this issue is the limited use of the “My Identity” application.
These uncollected cards not only occupy valuable storage space but also impede the processing and issuance of new identity cards. A potential fine system is currently being studied, with individuals facing a fine of 20 dinars if they exceed a three-month delay in collecting their IDs.
Upon the completion of this study, it will be submitted to the Authority’s Board of Directors for further evaluation. The study proposes that cards left unclaimed for six months from the storage date will be destroyed. In case of destruction, affected individuals will be required to reapply for a new card, covering the cost of the replacement card, the aforementioned fine, and forfeiting any entitlement to a refund of the original issuance fees.
In an effort to expedite the ongoing identity card issuance procedure, the Authority has temporarily halted the processing of applications submitted prior to May 23. This measure is aimed at ensuring a quicker issuance process for subsequent submissions, potentially reducing waiting times to just a matter of days.
