Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yesterday inaugurated the electronic-visa system at Kuwait International Airport;

KUWAIT: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah yesterday inaugurated the electronic-visa system at Kuwait International Airport; whereby applicants can obtain the entry visa online ahead of arrival in the country. Speaking upon the inauguration of the e-visa service at the air facility, Minister Sheikh Mohmmad advised staff and personnel to subject the new system to regular check-up and maintenance, cautioning that any glitch would impair the service, thus tarnishing Kuwait image abroad.

Qualified national manpower should be assigned to run the system, he instructed. Minister Sheikh Mohammad, who oversaw successful test of the system, urged the concerned personnel to maintain such excellent performance round the clock. "Real operation of the system should be equally effective and I will not accept anything less than that," he stressed.

The system is part of a wide-scale strategy to upgrade to speed up the state services for all people, namely citizens and expatriates. Security personnel should perform effectively, security wise, and provide good treatment to departing and arriving people at the same time, he said. Ali Al-Muaili, in charge of the technological sector in the Ministry of Interior, addressed the minister and other attendees, saying that the e-visa system provides the visa to people abroad via the MoI website, www.moi.gov.kw, thus they will be spared the energy-time wasting at Kuwait airport.

For his part, Major General Talal Maarefi, the Director General of Residency Affairs, said the applicant, via the new service will gets an immediate online reply, explaining that the instant visa is granted to citizens from 52 states, including expatriates in the GCC countries, who have a residency visa valid for no less than six months, also indicating that the special service is given to people of 13 professions. The minister, who was received by senior security officials at the airport, toured various sectors of the facilities and gave instructions to ensure that effective and speedy service is provided for the travelers. - KUNA