It is well known
that the Kuwaiti nationality law has defined the terms and regulations of
granting Kuwaiti nationality. This matter is under the discretion of the
ministry of interior as a security authority in the state. This issue has
several facets, from legal to humane, and I would like to take up the matter as
a Kuwaiti citizen. It seems that most of the talk is always about the children
of the Kuwaiti man who gets married to a non-Kuwaiti, but little is mentioned
about this non-Kuwaiti woman and her rights as a wife, or the potential
complications that such marriages may face.

This issue has
always been argumentative between supporters and opponents and the conditions
related to naturalization of this woman in case she wants to get Kuwaiti
nationality. Some of the conditions in the law are known to all - the first
requirement for obtaining Kuwaiti nationality is that the person must be born
in Kuwait or abroad to a Kuwaiti father. So obtaining Kuwaiti nationality will
be a normal matter through official channels. This applies to all children
regardless of the number of wives or their nationalities.

Other conditions
for getting Kuwaiti citizenship include providing the country with great and
exceptional services. There are other conditions too, but I don't want to dwell
on them today because I would like to focus on the naturalization of
non-Kuwaiti women who marry Kuwaitis. I am not against the marriage of any
Kuwaiti man to a non-Kuwaiti woman, as it is a private decision. But I hope any
man who wants to marry a non-Kuwaiti explains to her the situation - good or
bad - especially in case of divorce or death or separation, because frankness
and honesty is needed to protect her rights as a human and a wife, if not a
mother.

Article 8 of the
nationality law stipulates that the marriage of a foreign woman to a Kuwaiti
will not allow her to become Kuwaiti unless she declares to interior minister
her desire to obtain nationality. This condition requires that they continue
their marriage for at least five years from the date of declaring their desire
to obtain citizenship.

For years, it was
necessary to submit a request to declare the desire as a condition for the wife
to obtain Kuwaiti nationality and a period of five years of marriage. A
proposal was raised by the National Assembly aimed at canceling the declaration
of the desire as a condition for the wife to get Kuwaiti nationality. But I
think the desire of the wife is a must - maybe she has no interest.

The government
allows a Kuwaiti husband to naturalize his foreign wife after five years of
marriage, while the old time limit for Kuwaiti citizenship was 20 years. I
think this matter was an issue between supporters and opponents for many years.
I see that the decision to marry any national is personal, but a man is obliged
to take care of his wife and protect her legal status in the country,
especially in the case of having children, because after all she is the mother.
Kids will always need their mother regardless of her nationality, their age or
status of marriage. 

There is another
matter issue - polygamy. Parliamentary proposals on the humanitarian aspect
focused on allowing Kuwaitis to naturalize more than one wife in case of having
multiple wives. However, the response of the interior ministry to these
proposals confirmed its rejection out of concern of exploitation by men who may
misuse this to naturalize foreign women for money, as well as the impact on the
marriage rates of Kuwaiti women.

Some who are against
mixed marriage rely on their views about some cases of women who married
citizens, and when they got Kuwaiti nationality, forced them to divorce and
leave the children. Some of these wives had children from former spouses, so
they brought them to Kuwait to live under their sponsorship, while some
returned to their former husbands and brought them to Kuwait. I think these
cases are possible scenarios, but not for everyone.

I think
naturalization of a foreign wife should depend on the time period and the
consent of the competent security authorities, as well as her personal desire
and consent. She can choose between her original nationality and the
nationality of the husband. I believe that a non-citizen woman who has spent
many years in the care of her husband and has children must have full legal
protection to ensure her stay in the country in all cases, even divorce or
death of the spouse.

By Muna Al-Fuzai

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