KUWAIT: The interior ministry announced Tuesday that Kuwaiti students on scholarships and their companions abroad, as well as patients sent for treatment abroad by the government and their companions, and diplomats and their companions outside the country are temporarily exempt from registering their biometrics as the deadline for Kuwaitis ends on Sept 30, 2024.

These citizens will be exempt until they return to Kuwait, where they can complete their biometric registration either at the airport or at criminal evidence departments across the country, the ministry explained. Students studying abroad at their expense and patients undergoing treatment abroad at their expense too must submit documents to prove this to Kuwait’s embassies to get a similar exemption, the ministry noted.

Earlier, the ministry announced that biometric registration at shopping malls will stop as of Oct 1. However, people can submit their biometrics at designated centers at the personal identity verification departments of the public department for criminal evidence that are open throughout the week from 8:00 am until 10:00 pm. Booking an appointment can be done via the Sahel application, the ministry said in a statement, adding biometric registration can be done at the shopping malls until Sept 30 without an appointment. These malls are 360 Mall, The Avenues, Assima Mall and the ministries complex.