Living in Kuwait as a French National: Visa, Residence Permit, Housing, Schooling and Daily Life

Kuwait has a population in which foreign nationals are in the majority: France Diplomatie describes a country of about 4.9 million inhabitants in 2024, including 1.6 million Kuwaitis, 1 million Indians and 644,000 Egyptians, or roughly one third nationals to two thirds foreigners. This reality shapes daily life: residence, employment and health for foreigners follow their own rules, detailed below.

• Strengths: a job market oriented towards energy, transport, urban infrastructure and health, the priority sectors of Franco-Kuwaiti economic cooperation; 39 French companies established there, employing 2,139 people according to France Diplomatie; a French lycée and a French Institute.
• Points of caution: the residence permit remains tied to the sponsor, summer heat calls for an adapted pace of life, and precise local rules govern alcohol, photography and private life.
• Regional context: the travel advice page, updated on 10 September 2026, advises French nationals against travelling to Kuwait except for compelling reasons; it should be consulted before any plan to leave.
• Social protection: France has no social security agreement with Kuwait; health cover is organised through the employer, the CFE (the French social security fund for expatriates) or international insurance (see healthcare reimbursement in Kuwait).

Employment, salary and taxation are detailed in the guide to working in Kuwait.

The territory is divided into six governorates, which the French embassy uses to classify the French presence: Al-Asimah (Kuwait City, the capital), Hawalli, Al-Farwaniyah, Al-Ahmadi, Mubarak Al-Kabir and Al-Jahra. France Diplomatie names Kuwait City, Jahra and Ahmadi as the main cities, on a territory of 17,818 km².

• Kuwait City and the Sharq district: the French embassy and its consular section occupy the 40^th floor of the Al Hamra tower, in Sharq. The Dasman district hosts the French Centre for Research on the Arabian Peninsula.
• Hawalli governorate: the French Institute of Kuwait is located in Jabriyah, block 12.
• Al-Ahmadi: a governorate whose city of Ahmadi France Diplomatie lists among the main cities of the country.
• Al-Jahra: a governorate whose city of Jahra also appears among the main cities.

For a first choice of district, three criteria come up: travel time to the workplace, proximity to the lycée and the quality of the road network, which France Diplomatie considers uneven and which calls for great caution, especially at night. The official sources consulted publish no average rent by district: the budget is built from local offers and from the employment contract, whose housing allowance is among the points to negotiate.

A French national can enter with a visa on arrival at the international airport or, as the embassy recommends, with an e-visa applied for before departure on the Ministry of the Interior website. The visa is issued for 30, 60 or 90 days and costs 3 Kuwaiti dinars, or about €9 (France Diplomatie, page updated on 15 September 2026). The passport must be valid for more than six months; the emergency passport is not recognised. For a stay of more than three months, a residence permit is requested through a local sponsor, who is the employer in the case of an employee.

The implementing regulation of the law on the residence of foreigners, published in the official gazette on 21 October 2019 by the Ministry of the Interior, sets out the categories of ordinary residence: public employment (article 17), private-sector employment (article 18), investor or partner in a commercial or industrial activity (article 19), domestic staff (article 20), family reunification (article 22), studies (article 23) and residence without employment for those who can show their resources (article 24). The duration of each permit does not exceed five years, renewable, nor the validity of the passport.

• Documents required: two criminal record certificates, one from the country of origin and the other from the Kuwaiti services, and a medical certificate attesting the absence of communicable disease (2019 regulation).
• Health insurance: obtaining, renewing or transferring the permit requires proof of enrolment in the health insurance system issued by the Ministry of Health, for a permit duration that does not exceed that of the insurance.
• Official fees: KWD 10 (about €29) a year for ordinary residence; family reunification costs KWD 100 (about €290) in the first year for the spouse and children of a private-sector employee, then KWD 10 a year per person.
• Family: the monthly salary required to bring the family is KWD 500 (about €1,450), with exemptions for certain professions (doctors, university teachers, engineers, journalists, among others).
• Couples: only heterosexual marriage being recognised, a spouse in a civil partnership (PACS), a cohabiting partner or a same-sex partner cannot enter or obtain long-term residence in that capacity (France Diplomatie).

These amounts come from the 2019 text and may have changed: the employer or the Ministry’s visa department confirms them before departure. Once settled, the embassy recommends registering on the register of French nationals living abroad for a stay of more than six months. The checklist for the first 90 days helps you put the formalities in order.

The Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) is divided into one thousand fils. On 05/10/2026 the Central Bank of Kuwait publishes a rate of 344.263 fils per euro, or about €2.90 per KWD; in its sheet on life in Kuwait, the French embassy gives an order of magnitude of about €3 per KWD. The Central Bank has pegged the dinar to an unpublished basket of currencies since 2007: the rate therefore follows the movements of the major currencies, including the euro.

Housing is rented: the landlord or their representative enters the foreign tenant’s passport in the lease and declares the tenant to the residence department within a week (2019 regulation). The Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) states in its frequently asked questions that the legislation in force does not allow a foreigner to own land or real estate, under the decree-law on real estate ownership by non-Kuwaitis; it also lists an amendment to that text adopted in 2025, whose content should be read with the authorities before any plan to buy.

An expat’s budget depends mainly on rent, schooling and health cover. Salaries are negotiated in dinars, with no local income tax mentioned in the texts consulted: the guide to salaries in Kuwait gives benchmarks. The guide to budgeting for health abroad helps you include insurance in the calculation.

The French Lycée of Kuwait is a private school founded in 1989 and a partner of the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE). This status guarantees French curricula, exams and recruitment, with a head teacher who is a permanent member of the French national education service. The embassy’s French presence sheet gives it 1,220 pupils of 36 nationalities, from the earliest nursery level to the final year; another embassy page mentions more than 1,400 pupils, nearly 15% of them Kuwaiti: enrolment figures and available places should be confirmed directly with the school.

Families whose children attend a school accredited by the AEFE or the Mission laïque française can apply to the embassy for a school grant, subject to means testing. The French Institute of Kuwait, created in 2012, organises cultural and language activities. For younger children, see also children’s health cover abroad.

France Diplomatie recommends strictly following the instructions of the local authorities, taking shelter in the event of an alert, registering on the Fil d’Ariane system and checking the status of your flight before going to the airport. It also makes general recommendations: avoid gatherings and the vicinity of places of worship, be discreet in public spaces, and stay away from the 5 km-wide strip along the border with Iraq as well as from the islands of Warbah and Bubiyan. The emergency number, reachable in English, is 112; the embassy can be reached on +965 2202 2817.

The climate is desert. Excursions into the desert can become dangerous depending on conditions (sandstorms, rainy spells), residual mines remain in some areas, and the heat calls for staying hydrated and avoiding the hottest hours. Arabic is the official language, and the emergency number is reachable in English. For getting around, an international driving licence is needed during a tourist stay; holders of a residence permit apply to exchange their licence for a local one, a procedure subject to criteria.

Local law governs areas that many newcomers discover on arrival. France Diplomatie summarises them as follows:

• Alcohol and pork: drinking alcohol is prohibited, and importing alcohol or pork, including in a household move, is punishable by imprisonment.
• Narcotics and medicines: their use and trafficking are severely punished. Some sleeping pills, anxiolytics and antidepressants are treated as narcotics: a prescription for 15 days is required, certified by the Kuwaiti authorities in France.
• Photography: photographing a person without their consent is strictly prohibited, especially a woman; photographs of official infrastructure are prohibited too.
• Ramadan: eating, drinking or smoking in the street and in public places is prohibited from sunrise to sunset, whatever one’s faith.
• Dress and private life: modest dress is recommended; Kuwaiti law criminalises homosexuality, unmarried heterosexual couples cannot share a hotel room, and unmarried pregnant women risk prosecution.
• Expression: as the internet, dating apps and social media are monitored, caution is advisable about what you post.

Insurance covering medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and medical repatriation is essential, and the health page details the France Diplomatie recommendations. The residence permit, for its part, requires enrolment in the local health insurance system. How it all works is described in the guide to the Kuwait healthcare system. To compare the options, the expat health insurance page presents benchmarks, and Expavy helps you weigh them against your situation. Families also consult expat family insurance, and future retirees the guide to retiring in Kuwait.