Hameed Al-Otaibi*, a Nigerian working and residing in Kuwait, has narrated how the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)’s failure to renew his international passport on time may likely affect his job and residency status in the Middle-Eastern country soon.
While speaking with FIJ on Tuesday, Al-Otaibi said he applied for a renewal of his international passport at the Nigerian Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait, in March.
“When we were done with data capturing at the Nigerian Embassy in Kuwait City, we were told by the officials who attended to us that our passports would be ready between June and July,” said Al-Otaibi.
“Myself and three other members of my family went for the renewal exercise in March, and I paid 70 kwd (Kuwaiti Dinar) per person.
“This meant that I paid a total cash sum of 280 kwd for the renewal of our passports.
“No receipts were issued to me.”
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Al-Otaibi told FIJ that the passport was supposed to be valid for five years.
“Nobody is saying anything to us as regards why the new passports have not been made available to us yet,” said Al-Otaibi.
“All they have continued to preach is patience, and that it would come when it would come.”
Al-Otaibi also told FIJ the implication of not carrying an up-to-date Nigerian passport on his job and residential status in the gulf country.
“As we speak, nobody knows anything as far as the availability and pick up date is concerned,” said Al-Otaibi.
“Presently, I am able to still work as an employee of my company because I am not changing my job.
“I, however, have a family member who is working on changing her job, but the rule says that you can not do that if you do not have a valid international passport.
“You must carry a valid international passport when changing jobs in a country like Kuwait. Unfortunately, she can not move on in her career aspirations because of the situation we are currently facing with our passports.”
Al-Otaibi also told FIJ that the non issuance of a new passport could affect his status as a Kuwaiti resident soon.
“In Kuwait, your job is what makes your residency valid,” said Al-Otaibi.
“My wife just got a new job and the employer has asked for her international passport so that they can start working on her status as a resident in the country.
“Presently, she can not do that because we don’t even have a valid international passport at the moment. The passports we used to carry about have expired.
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“What is even worse is that we do not know when we will eventually receive our new passports. I mean the ones we went to the Nigerian Embassy in Kuwait in March to renew.
“No one is saying anything to us and not having a valid passport is a threat to our continued stay here as residents and employees of companies.
“No one is saying anything to us.”
A KUWAITI RESIDENT WHO GOT HIS PASSPORT RENEWED IN NIGERIA
Al-Otaibi also told FIJ how a fellow Nigerian residing in Kuwait got his passport renewed.
“A fellow Nigerian, who also happens to be a Kuwaiti resident, had to recently travel down to Nigeria to have his passport renewed,” said Al-Otaibi.
“At first, I considered his plan a long shot and almost talked him out of it.
“In the end, however, he got his passport renewed in Nigeria before returning to Kuwait.
“As a matter of fact, the new passport he got is valid for 10 years.
“Presently, our international passport renewal request is in limbo. We do not know when we would eventually take possession of the new passports and I pray the matter doesn’t end up becoming a threat to me and my wife’s employment and residency status in Kuwait.”
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NIGERIAN IMMIGRATION SERVICE’S RESPONSE TO FIJ
On Tuesday, FIJ emailed both the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigerian Embassy in Kuwait for a reaction to Al-Otaibi’s claims and plight.
On Wednesday, an NIS official, who chose not to state his or her name, issued the following response:
“We apologise for any inconveniences. However, we would like to know if he (Al-Otaibi) has contacted the passport processing centre for a follow up.
“We would also like to know if he has tracked the application online.”
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Reacting to the NIS’ response on Wednesday, Al-Otaibi said:
“There is no passport processing centre in Kuwait. As a matter of fact, we were not giving any reference that we could have used to track the progress of our renewal request.”
In retrospect, the Nigerian paid an equivalent of N1.4 million to the NIS in Kuwait and still has not received the new passports to date. The Nigerian Embassy in Kuwait had yet to respond to FIJ’s email at press time.
The post Livelihoods of Kuwait-Based Nigerian, Wife at Risk After Embassy ‘Collected N1.4m’ but Failed to Renew Passports 5 Months Later appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.