Hundreds wait for hours in lines to renew driver's licenses

KUWAIT: People lined up at a traffic department in Kuwait. — Photos by Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: Kuwait returned to work on Sunday after a nine-day holiday to celebrate Eid Al-Adha. The typical rush at government departments and ministries was in full display only two days into the working week. Kuwait Times visited the General Traffic Department in Jabriya (Hawally governorate) and the General Traffic Department in Dajeej (Farwaniya governorate) and found long queues at both places. As expatriates are allowed to process paperwork only during the afternoon, hundreds of people queue up before offices open at 4 pm till the last minute of closing time.

Hundreds of expats wait for hours in lines to renew driver's licenses or complete other paperwork. Even when the line moves quickly and officers at the counter process hundreds of applications, the crowds barely diminish.

In 2014, the interior ministry implemented a number of restrictions on expats in a bid to reduce the number of drivers on the road - and the number of applications for driving licenses. Expats must have a residency valid for at least two years, meet age/health/fitness criteria and earn a salary of KD 600. Several categories of foreign workers are exempt including judges, members of the diplomatic corps, journalists, imams, nurses, domestic drivers, widows and divorcees of Kuwaiti men, some students and others. Other categories like expat stay-at-home moms are mostly barred from obtaining a driving license, even if they have school-age children that need daily transport.

Massive increase

The bid to reduce the number of cars on the road, however, has been stymied by an explosion in the demand for delivery services. From fast-food to Instagram businesses, Kuwait has in the last few years seen a massive increase in delivery-based business, further aggravating the situation and adding to the number of cars on the road and the numbers of expatriates in need of driving licenses.

"I came on the last working day on August 16. It was completely the same. We queued and were lucky to get close to the counter, but they shut for the day and we were told to come back after Eid. It is the same again today - they told us again to come back tomorrow," said a Pakistani truck driver standing in the queue. He had been waiting for more than an hour. An Egyptian man in the queue complained that some individuals pass much quickly through the line. "I found out there are some people who go inside (the processing area) without standing in line. It is unfair, but what can we do in this matter?" he asked.

Always apply for renewals several weeks before the expiry of your important documents. Long queues are unavoidable and some departments are so overwhelmed that they simply cannot handle the demand. Several government offices are only taking papers of what they can process for the day. "We are sorry - please come back later," said a police officer manning the door at the traffic department.

By Ben Garcia