Overview of the
amendments to the Kuwaiti
Nationality Law
Kuwait is not party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees and its 1971 Protocol. There are no national laws or
administrative procedures regulating the status of asylum seekers or
refugees. All non-citizens fall under the national immigration laws (or
expatriate law). As per such laws, non-nationals can secure sponsorship
through family link, work, investment as a prerequisite to obtain a legal
residence in Kuwait. Local integration possibilities for refugees and
thousands of stateless persons through naturalisation are limited.Though
the government passed a bill in 2013 permitting up to 4,000 qualifying
stateless persons to be naturalised, implementation has been lagging and
only 500 people have been naturalised since its adoption.
Kuwait is the only country in the world that has different classes for
citizens and their dependents. Some of the highlights of the Nationality
Law can be found in Articles 1 to 15.(3) According to article 1 of the
Law, a Kuwaiti citizen is one of the original nationals who were settled
in Kuwait prior to 1920 and who maintained their normal residence
there until the publication of the Law in 1959. Article 2 of the Law states
that any person who is born in Kuwait or outside of it, whose father is a
Kuwaiti national is also a Kuwaiti. Article 3 of the Law grants citizenship
to any person who is born in the country to unknown parents by a
Decree. Article 4 allows naturalisations of foreign Muslim citizens of
good characters by a Decree if they resided in Kuwait for 20 years, as an
Arab or from an Arab country.
(3) https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1959/en/17674
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Kuwait: Amendments to Kuwaiti Nationality Law
pose serious threats to human rights