Paper fingerprints expose dual nationality cases in major Kuwaiti citizenship review
9,000 records under scrutiny as Kuwait uses biometric matching to detect forgery; 120 lose citizenship in first batch of new nationality crackdown
The Nationality Department has launched a new verification drive targeting forgery and dual nationality cases by reviewing the records of around 9,000 individuals who did not complete biometric fingerprinting.
According to informed sources, the initiative relies on a technical matching process between old paper fingerprints taken at age 18 and modern electronic biometric fingerprints stored in national databases. The qualitative review is expected to expose hundreds of dual citizenship and forgery cases, reports Al-Rai daily.
Authorities identified three main reasons why some individuals never underwent biometric fingerprinting:
- Unrecorded deaths, mostly involving elderly individuals whose status was never updated in official records.
- People residing outside Kuwait.
- Individuals inside Kuwait where suspicions of dual nationality or document forgery already existed.
Every Kuwaiti citizen historically had ten fingerprints recorded in ink on paper — known as “fingerprint notification” — kept by the Criminal Evidence Department. In recent years, biometric fingerprints were also collected electronically from citizens, residents, and even visitors at border points.
The new process involves digitizing old paper fingerprints for those without biometric records and running them through the electronic system. These prints are then compared against all biometric fingerprints in government databases to detect matches indicating identity duplication.
The first batch uncovered 120 cases where paper fingerprints matched biometric records belonging to individuals registered under other Gulf or foreign nationalities.
This indicates that a person who originally obtained Kuwaiti citizenship later acquired another nationality and had their biometric data recorded during travel or residency procedures.
Sources stressed that such matches automatically classify the individuals as dual nationals, which under Kuwaiti law is grounds for automatic loss of Kuwaiti nationality.
Officials noted that in the past, some cases were handled through informal arrangements allowing individuals to renounce their second nationality, but current enforcement applies the law strictly, without exceptions.
The initial 120 cases — most involving women — represent only the beginning, with further batches expected and the final figure potentially rising severalfold as the review continues.
