KUWAIT:
Well-informed security sources said the interior ministry's field security
forces are preparing to launch intensive security campaigns in various areas to
track down, arrest and deport residency visa violators. The sources also denied
any plans to grant residency violators any grace periods this year, pointing
out that the last amnesty was not fruitful as only 57,000 expats benefited from
it, which was way below the expected numbers.

The sources said
that the total number of residency violators is 70,000, but those registered in
security databases number more than 100,000. "Checking the registered
names, it was found that many of them have been registered for over 25 years, and
many of them had probably left the country," the sources explained.

Meanwhile, Public
Authority for Civil Information Director Musaed Al-Assousi stressed the need to
double check the information expats submit to residency affairs departments in
their renewal forms. He urged them to examine the receipts they get from clerks
and ask for immediate correction of any mistakes before they leave the counter.

Assousi added
that an expat has three chances to check personal data prior to receiving the
new civil ID. "The first step starts by typing the renewal form correctly,
the second by checking the receipt they get at residency affairs departments
and finally when applying for civil ID renewal, where applicants are asked to
approve the validity and correctness of the data before proceeding with the
transaction," Assousi explained.

Assousi warned
that in case the ID gets issued with incorrect data, applicants will have to
pay the fees once again for the correction. "Therefore, applicants need to
carefully check their names in Arabic and Latin and the passport number to make
sure they match their passports," he underlined.

By A Saleh