A Driving Licence for Non-Kuwaitis: Two Years’ Residency, 600 Dinars and a Degree — Plus Twenty-Six Exemptions

The general condition is well known and written down: a non-Kuwaiti wanting a private or general driving licence must have lawful residency of at least two years, a monthly salary of no less than 600 dinars, and a university degree. All three together, not one of them.

But the same decision carries twenty-six cases that fall outside all or part of that requirement. The decision is ministerial decision 270 of 2020, issued on 18 March 2020, and published on the General Traffic Department site as of 25 August 2026.

First: exempt from residency, salary and degree together

Twelve categories are asked for none of the three conditions:

1. The foreign wife, widow or divorcee of a Kuwaiti who has children by him.
2. The foreign husbands and sons of Kuwaiti women.
3. Those residing without legal status who hold valid security cards and health insurance.
4. Members of diplomatic missions.
5. Professional players at clubs and sports federations under government bodies.
6. Drivers and representatives at government bodies, and general representatives only, who hold a valid lawful licence issued by their own or any other country.
7. Domestic workers and those in the same position who have worked two continuous years for the same sponsor, on condition the occupation is changed to driver.
8. Technicians specialising in oil fields at the oil companies.
9. Physiotherapy specialists and all other medical profession technicians.
10. Pilots and co-pilots, ships’ captains, masters and pilots.
11. Those who wash the dead.
12. Housewives with children whose husbands fall in specified categories: pilots and co-pilots, ships’ captains, masters and pilots; judges and members of the public prosecution; advisers and experts; university and institute teaching staff; doctors and pharmacists; and chief executives, general managers and their assistants.

Second: exempt from residency and salary, degree still required

1. Judges and members of the public prosecution.
2. Advisers and experts.
3. Teaching staff at universities and applied institutes.
4. Doctors and pharmacists.
5. Journalists and media workers.
6. Engineers.
7. Veterinarians.
8. Researchers of every title, and lawyers, translators, teachers, social specialists, librarians, mosque imams and muezzins working at government bodies.
9. Sports coaches working at sports federations and clubs under government bodies.

Third: exempt from the residency period alone

These still need the 600-dinar salary and the university degree; only the two-year wait falls away:

1. Chief executives, general managers and their assistants under their various titles.
2. Managers of every title.
3. Accountants of every title.
4. Physicists, chemists and geologists.
5. Representatives of every title.

When a licence is cancelled

This is the part that surprises people, because the licence here is tied to the occupation rather than the person:

• A driver or representative at a government body, and a general representative: the licence is cancelled if their residency is cancelled or the occupation it was issued against is changed. A replacement is granted only after two years and through fresh procedures.
• The licence is cancelled on changing to an occupation the decision does not cover, or on cancellation of residency.
• A housewife: her licence is cancelled if her residency changes or her husband’s occupation changes to one the decision does not cover.
• The director general of the General Traffic Department may reinstate a licence if the occupation changes directly to one matching the conditions or their exemptions.
• Drivers holding article 20 are excepted where their residency is cancelled for being outside the country more than six months, or where it was cancelled for reasons other than security or health, provided the driver was recruited by the employer themselves or a first-degree relative, and the entry visa was under the occupation of driver.

Where to read the text

The decision is published in full on the General Traffic Department site under the traffic services page. Its accounts are @traffic_kw, and WhatsApp 99324092.