KUWAIT: The Ministry of Interior's Assistant Undersecretary for Residency Affairs Major General Talal Maarafi recently ordered the cancellation of extra health insurance fees paid when issuing or renewing visas for dependents others than wives and children, said informed sources.

According to regulations that were in effect since 2017, expats applying to issue or renew residency visas for their parents, siblings or mothers in law according to article 22 had to annually pay KD 50 for health insurance and KD 200 at the concerned residency affairs department, in addition to purchasing a health insurance policy to cover medical treatment in private hospitals for prices varying between KD 160 and KD 250.

According to Maarafi's recent instructions, applicants would now only be required to pay KD 50 for health insurance plus the KD 200 annual fee at the concerned residency affairs department, without having to purchase any extra health insurances. "This will open the door for expats who had already purchased insurances at various insurance companies over the past two years to files lawsuits in order to refund what they paid," the sources elaborated. - Al-Anbaa