Life is set to become difficult for expats in Kuwait as the government has announced it wants to reduce their numbers by 100,000 each year for the next 10 years. It is estimated that expats make up about two thirds of the country's population of 3.8 million and a series of measures are being introduced aimed at reducing the attractiveness of being an expat in the country.

Driving regulations for expats in Kuwait are to be tightened, utility charges are set to rise and expats could even find themselves being restricted as to when they can make a non urgent health appointment. The first step is to restrict the number of driving licences being granted to expats. Currently to obtain a driver’s licence an expat must have a two year visa, a university degree and earn at least 400 dinars a month but there are exceptions made for students, wives of expats, engineers, lawyers and journalists.

Now the interior ministry undersecretary for traffic affairs, Major General Abdulfattah Al Ali, has told Kuwaiti newspapers that he has asked the traffic department to review the list of exemptions. The exemptions for wives who were issued a licence based on their family visa and for students who have found work could be the first to be abolished, he said.

The traffic department has already had a crackdown on expats with driving violations and it has been reported that more than 2,000 have been deported since April. ‘Every country has its laws, and those who violate its immigration laws, as well as those who violate its other laws should be subject to deportation,’ Col Al Hashash was quoted as saying.
Quote from ExpatForum.com : "I recently started working for an oil company, apparently, I was asked to do a medical test in Ahmadi which came out all fine, but later found out that I need to get a medical test done from UK as part of the visa requirement."
Other restrictions for expats are being talked about, such as utility subsidies which means that foreign workers who have to pay the going rate for services like water and electricity. There is also talk of expats being restricted to certain times when they could get non urgent health appointments although this has been described as being part of a new streamlining plan to make the appointment system more efficient.

‘Kuwait's health minister is studying a proposal to designate specific hours of the day that nationals and expatriates can access medical attention,’ a spokesman for the information ministry said. ‘The proposal is intended to ease the overcrowding at clinics that continue to increase for regular checkups,’ he added. There are also likely to be changes to visas to reduce the number of new expats coming to the country and also a more rigorous crackdown on those working illegally or over staying their visas. There is already a freeze on work permits for some jobs.

Kuwait was named as one of the world's least friendly countries towards tourists in a global travel and tourism competitiveness survey by the World Economic Forum released this week. It was ranked 137 out of 140 countries for friendliness.