Kuwait has implemented an official amendment to the fee charged for a specific passport-related government service, following a ministerial decision issued by the Ministry of Interior and published in the country’s official gazette.

Ministerial Decision No. 1769 of 2026 establishes a fee of KD 100 for issuing a replacement for a lost Kuwaiti passport, amending an existing provision governing charges collected by the General Department of Nationality and Kuwaiti Travel Documents.

The decision was issued on October 5, 2026, by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah and subsequently published in Issue No. 1812 of the Kuwait Al Youm Official Gazette on October 11, 2026.

Under Article One, the third item of Article Two of Ministerial Decision No. 20 of 1971 was amended to establish the KD 100 charge for replacing a lost Kuwaiti passport.

The amendment specifically concerns the issuance of a replacement document following the loss of an existing Kuwaiti passport. It does not establish a KD 100 fee for every passport application or all passport renewal transactions.

Article Two directs the Ministry of Interior’s undersecretary to implement the decision and confirms that the amended fee takes effect from the date of publication in the official gazette.

Accordingly, the change became effective on October 11, 2026, even though the original ministerial decision was signed several days earlier. The charge is therefore already in force and should not be described as a measure introduced on the present date.

The new fee is particularly relevant to Kuwaiti citizens who need to obtain a replacement passport after losing their original travel document.

However, the measure should be distinguished from routine passport renewal, first-time passport issuance and other services offered by the General Department of Nationality and Kuwaiti Travel Documents.

The text of the decision does not announce that all such transactions will be subject to the same fee. Applicants should therefore verify the particular charge applicable to the service they are requesting.

The amendment also does not concern foreign passports issued to expatriate residents by their respective countries. Its scope is limited to the specific Kuwaiti passport replacement transaction identified in the official decision.

Another important distinction concerns the nature of the KD 100 amount. The published decision describes it as a government service fee for issuing a replacement passport, rather than a separate financial penalty automatically imposed whenever a passport is lost.

The decision forms part of the legal and administrative framework governing the fees collected by Kuwait’s nationality and travel document authorities.

For citizens who lose their passports while abroad, the appropriate procedures may involve contacting a Kuwaiti diplomatic mission and following instructions for emergency or replacement travel documentation.

Such circumstances may involve different procedural requirements, and the ministerial amendment does not establish that all emergency travel documents or consular services carry the same charge.

The published text also does not provide a complete list of documents required to apply for a lost-passport replacement or describe every step in the administrative application process.

Applicants should therefore obtain the relevant procedural information directly from the Ministry of Interior or the competent service department rather than relying on assumptions about the required documents.

The distinction between the decision’s issue date and its implementation date is also important. Although the ministerial decision was issued on October 5, its provisions became applicable upon publication in the official gazette on October 11, 2026.

Citizens requiring a replacement for a lost Kuwaiti passport are advised to review the Ministry of Interior’s official service channels, verify the applicable documentation requirements and retain evidence of any payments made during the application process.

Source: Kuwait Ministry of Interior – Ministerial Decision No. 1769 of 2026, Kuwait Al Youm Official Gazette