Kuwait flags off e-visa service for 52 countries and GCC members

On 31 July, Kuwait launched its electronic visa (e-visa) service, which lets applicants receive an approval within 24 hours. Colonel Adel Ahmed Al-Hashash, Head of the Public Relations and Moral Guidance Department and the Security Media Department Acting Manager, said that applicants would no longer need to go through paperwork and face several attendant hurdles that one is subjected to when applying for a visa manually. After the MOI (Ministry of Interior) announced this initiative, Colonel Al-Hashash was quoted by the Arab Times as saying that all applicants for visas needed to do now was to go to the MOI website and they would find out for themselves the procedure of applying for a visa. Major General Talaal Al-Maara?, Head of the Public Authority for Visa Affairs, said that henceforth for those landing in Kuwait with an e-visa, paperwork and process would be easy, which would, in turn, reduce the rush at airport terminals. This service would now be available for 52 countries besides GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) members. According to Major General Al-Maara?, 14 professions would enjoy special services, including the issuance of visas for their spouse, children and domestic help. From now on, once a tourist arrives in Kuwait she/he would only need to give the reference number to the visa officer, who would print out the visa attach it to the passport and give the person a hard copy of it. Major General Al-Maara? said that people of all nationalities could apply as long as they met the legal and criminal terms. General Ali AlMaeli, Head of the Information Technology Department at MOI, said that the service was linked to all the MOI systems, which would make the process of accessing information swift and easy. In addition, they have coded it with security measures to prevent it from being misused in any way. General Ali AlMaeli said that the time taken for visa approval, which is currently 24 hours, would be brought down to one hour soon and this service would be integrated with the MOI application on smartphones. If you are planning to visit Kuwait on a tourist, work or business visa, come over to Y-Axis and avail our assistance and guidance to file for one at one of our 19 offices located in all major cities of India.