Getting a Kuwait driving license – A fresh driving license

To get the driving license in Kuwait, one should apply for a learner’s license and pass a driving test. Residents holding driving licenses of some western countries shall follow a different path and use those driving license for obtaining a Kuwait Driving License According to a ministerial decision, expatriates applying for driving license should have

1. a university degree, (attested by the ministries)
2. a salary of not less than 400 dinars per month ( as per the shoon paper)
3. and a valid residence. They should have resided in Kuwait for at least two years before applying for a driving license provided they meet the conditions on age and health

Persons who are not allowed to get a Kuwaiti driving license on the strength of their national license must go to the License Section in the main Traffic Department in Shuwaikh and obtain approval for a learner’s license (istimara). To obtain approval, an expatriate must satisfy conditions mentioned above. However certain persons (see facing box) are exempt from these conditions.

* Drivers for companies and public bodies
* Domestic servants
* Advisors, judges, public prosecutors, experts and lawyers
* Doctors and Pharmacists
* Professors at universities, colleges and institutes of higher education
* Teachers, social workers and laboratory operators
* Engineers and assistant engineers
* Foreign women married to Kuwaiti men
* Foreign divorcees and widows of Kuwaiti men
* Foreign husbands and foreign children of Kuwaiti women
* Mosque imams, prayer callers and teachers of the Holy Quran
* Librarians employed by government authorities
* Nursing staff, first-aid assistants, and laboratory and x-ray technicians
* Journalists and pressmen
* Managers and graduate accountants
* Professional sports players and coaches
* Pilots, air-stewards and air-hostesses
* Housewives, provided they have children or provided their husbands have been resident earn at least KD 400/- a month
* Students
* Graduate computer programmers
* Undertakers and those in charge of burials

This is totally depending upon the designation in the shoon paper / work permit Once you get the learners driving license, the applicant must go to the Licence Section in the Traffic Department in the governorate in which he or she lives. Documents required include

* Passport
* Original and copies of civil ID
* 4 passport-sized photographs
* Letter and attestation in a form by the Company, if employed and copy of work permit from Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor or letter of employment from a ministry.
* Eye & blood test result (To get the eyesight certificate, a paper from the local traffic department must be obtained and taken to the Ministry of Public Health (MPH) testing clinic in Qortuba.)

The results of the tests can be picked up after two days of the test Submit all these to the License Section for registration for the driving test. A KD10 stamp must be affixed to the application form. Then the learner must go to the driving test center at the governorate’s Traffic Department to fix a date for a driving test, for which a KD10 booking fee is levied. KD10 must also be paid on the day of the test.