Kuwait has issued a decree allowing its embassies and consulates to issue visit visas to citizens from all countries except those from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, said a report.

Under this new rule, all types of visit visas - commercial, tourist or family - will be granted, reported the Gulf News, citing senior officials.

The Interior Ministry has given full authority to the embassies and consulates for issuing the visas based on the procedures stipulated by the law and its regulations, it added.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah had directed the Citizenship and Travel Documents and the Immigration departments “to work in co-ordination with the interior ministry and the hotels sector which can also engage in the process of issuing all kinds of visas to Kuwait — commercial, tourist or family.”

However, security sources told local daily Al Rai that the new rules do not extend to nationals from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan who have been barred from entering Kuwait.

The ban, since 2011, was attributed to the “difficult security conditions in the six countries” and to “the remarkably increasing tendency of Kuwait-based nationals from these countries to apply for visas to bring into Kuwait relatives who faced or could face serious challenges in their home countries.”

The interior ministry has regularly issued visit visas to their relatives who fulfill the requirements.