Kuwait City: Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has revealed a three-phase plan for expatriates looking to return to the country, according to a report by Al Qabas.
The detailed plan was drawn to enable priority returns and to ensure that there is no overcrowding at the airport.
The plan, which has been submitted by the interior minister to the Foreign Affairs Ministry for final approval, includes in the first phase medical professionals, judges, members of the public prosecution and teachers.
The second stage includes those who have families residing in the country and those individuals with a valid family residency permit (Article 22) while the third and final stage will allow the remaining expats who want to return.
The ministry announced two weeks ago that it will be reviewing 70,000 expired residencies held by those individuals who have been stuck abroad since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.
According to a report by Al Rai, the residency permits of 1,000 expats are expiring daily as their sponsors fail to renew their permits while they have been stuck outside the country since March 12, after Kuwait halted all commercial flights.
Although the airport was closed for arrivals, a limited number of flights have been operating since March 16, for those looking to leave Kuwait and since then, over 158,000 expats have left on a total of 993 flights.
Kuwait International Airport resumed operations on August 1 but the government has banned travellers from 31 countries from entering the country including those from India, Philippines, Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan.