Time Does Not Protect Forgers
- Safeguarding national identity is a fixed responsibility that knows no statute of limitations... and every involved party will be held accountable, regardless of how much time passes.
- The passage of years, the succession of decades, and the closure of files will not conceal the crime of nationality forgery nor shield perpetrators from accountability.
- What was once believed to be concluded, buried by oblivion, or resistant to discovery is now being brought back to the forefront of investigation.
- The latest meeting of the “Supreme Committee” resulted in the revocation of nationality from more than 230 individuals, including forgers and those with dual nationality.
The passage of years, the succession of decades, and even the closure of files are no longer sufficient to conceal nationality forgery crimes or protect perpetrators from accountability. What was once thought to be concluded, buried by oblivion, or resistant to discovery is now being brought back to the forefront of investigation by the Nationality Investigations Department, which has reopened these cases supported by scientific and technical tools and precise inquiries. This confirms that time does not grant forgers immunity, and that safeguarding national identity is a fixed responsibility that knows no statute of limitations.
In line with this approach, the Supreme Committee for Nationality Verification, chaired by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousif, continues its work tirelessly and continuously. It relies on the inquiries, reviews, and meticulous examination of both old and new files conducted by the Nationality Investigations teams. This effort successively uncovers cases that had lain dormant for decades and unravels threads of forgery that spanned long years, thereby cementing the principle that anyone who obtained nationality unlawfully remains subject to accountability whenever evidence emerges, regardless of the time elapsed since the incident.
In its latest meetings, the Committee reviewed three distinct forgery cases. The first revealed the impersonation of a citizen who had died in 1970, exploiting a loophole that existed before the electronic linkage between government entities was completed. The second case involved dismantling a new branch of an old forgery file by tracing the identity of a Gulf sister and relying on DNA fingerprinting tests. The third case revived a complaint dating back to 1995, confirming that DNA tests conducted in London in 2000 and repeated in Kuwait in 2025 yielded the same result: the establishment of the forgery fact.
The Committee also decided to revoke the nationality of 19 other cases where dual nationality was proven, whether between Gulf or foreign nationalities, or for children of Kuwaiti women who lived abroad with their mothers, obtained their mothers’ nationalities, and do not reside in Kuwait. The three forgery cases resulted in the revocation of nationality from the forgers and those who acquired it derivatively with them, bringing the total number of individuals subject to revocation decisions to more than 230.
In the first case, Nationality Investigations uncovered one of the strangest forgery incidents after successfully stripping the identity of an individual who had assumed the status of a Kuwaiti citizen who died in 1970. This exploitation took advantage of a loophole that predated the completion of electronic integration among government entities, effectively bringing the “deceased” back to life in official records 17 years after his death. The case relied on four main pieces of evidence, leading to his referral to the Public Prosecution and a decision to revoke his nationality and that of 20 individuals who acquired it derivatively with him.
In the second case, Nationality Investigations succeeded in unraveling a forgery network that spanned nearly half a century. This was achieved by expanding investigations into a file in which part had already been exposed, leading to the identification of the true Gulf nationality of an individual born in 1958, who was registered in the file as having 32 children and daughters from five wives. Nationality was revoked from the forger and 105 individuals who acquired it derivatively with him. Investigations into the original file, which dates back to an individual born in the late 1920s, are still ongoing to uncover other forgery incidents.
As for the third case, it revived a file that had been opened more than three decades ago, after the biological sons filed a new complaint in 2025 to prove that a deceased individual had remained listed on their father’s file, despite the father’s acknowledgment since 1995 that the man was not his son. Citizenship was revoked from the deceased and from 87 individuals who had acquired it derivatively.
