Kuwait Sends the Documentation Queue into Retirement!

In Kuwait, there is an unofficial employee who may be closer to retirement than ever before. Its name: the queue.

The new documentation regulations are not just about agencies, stamps, and documents; they represent a genuine shift in the way people have traditionally conducted their transactions.

Documentation can now reach citizens through their screens, and video conferencing has officially become part of the procedures, alongside electronic signatures and verification codes that confer legal validity and security to documents.

In simpler terms: it is no longer the citizen who is always moving toward the transaction; rather, the transaction itself is now moving toward the citizen.

Crucially, this transformation has not come at the expense of legal protection. There is now audio-visual recording, controls for verifying identity and eligibility, and clearer regulations regarding the duration of power of attorney, which is originally set at five years, with specific exceptions allowing it to extend up to ten years.

However, the true value here lies not in the number of years, but in the concept itself.

E-government does not mean a new mobile application, a better-looking screen, or a logo for digital transformation. Real e-government means eliminating steps that are no longer necessary, reducing the number of visits, and enabling information to flow between agencies instead of requiring citizens to carry it themselves from one counter to another.

Today, Kuwait is not only changing the form of the power of attorney; it is also transforming a concept that has persisted for years: the notion that a government transaction cannot be completed unless the citizen is physically present.