The service is for Kuwaitis whose civil ID has expired. It does not have one door but five, and what separates them is not the price — it is what you are forced into if you want to change your photograph.
The five routes
- The Sahel app.
- The e-services on the authority’s website.
- Attending in person.
- Attendance by a guardian or their legal deputy, with a formal power of attorney from the Ministry of Justice.
- Automated renewal by calling 1889988, or by SMS to the same number.
The condition that cancels four of them
Every route that does not involve attending in person carries a single condition: that there is no request to change the personal photograph. Ask to change the photo and the electronic and phone routes fall away, and you are back to attending.
What is asked of you
- A copy of the civil ID.
- For anyone over eighteen: the original citizenship certificate and a copy.
- Two photographs for every person aged five and over.
- A copy of the passport for anyone aged five and over, recently issued. Anyone without a recent passport submits proof of citizenship with a copy.
The fee
The fixed fee is five dinars, paid through the authority’s website. There are no variable fees. The SMS route carries its own separate cost: fifty fils per message, which makes renewing by text more expensive the more messages it takes.
The service page also carries neighbouring services worth using before you start: checking an ID’s validity, checking its status, and a renewal-and-payment service covering more than one card at once.
Photo: a specimen civil ID in front of the Public Authority for Civil Information building, from the authority’s own materials.
Source: Kuwait’s electronic portal, civil ID renewal service page for Kuwaitis, Public Authority for Civil Information.
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