Tag: kuwait

Kuwait to De-Bank People Who Do Not Get Fingerprinted

Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior announced Wednesday that all citizens and expatriates must book a biometric fingerprinting appointment before December 31, 2024 or face being blocked from using their bank accounts or access government services.

“A biometric fingerprinting appointment must be booked before the specified deadline via the ‘Meta’ platform or the ‘Sahl’ app to avoid the suspension of governmental and banking transactions,” the government announcement said in a social media post Wednesday.

The December warning was not the first one given by the Kuwaiti government, back in September they issued a similar announcement, stating those who did not submit to fingerprinting were to be de-banked by September 30, but even that date was an extension to the measure, according to Times Kuwait in September.

At that time it was only Kuwaiti citizens that had the September 30 deadline, while expatriates had until December 30. Now, based on Wednesday’s announcement, it appears as though both groups have until December 31.

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Kuwait Warns Foreign Residents of Upcoming Deadline for Compulsory Biometric Registration

Kuwaiti authorities have called on foreign residents in the country to ensure that they complete an ongoing compulsory biometric registration exercise before the government-prescribed deadline at the end of this year.

The deadline for Kuwaiti citizens to comply with the requirement elapsed in September, but aliens have until December 31 to do so.

Col. Thamer Dakhin Al-Mutairi, an official from the Personnel Identification Department, is referenced by Arab Times as saying that all those who do not meet the December deadline will have their transactions disrupted.

Already, the government says citizens who failed to meet the September deadline have a block on some of their transactions such as banking services, although they still have a chance to catch up.

The government indicates that so far, slightly over three million people are already done with the process, while over 754,000 others are yet to do so.

Al-Mutairi has also reminded residents of the points where registration takes place. He says it is safer to book appointments because all those who show up without an appointment may not be attended to by identification personnel.

Kuwait mandated a compulsory collection of fingerprint biometrics from citizens and residents in May last year, saying it is part of efforts to bolster the country’s national security architecture.

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