Citizens and Expats Travelling From Kuwait With Gold Bars Required to Carry Customs Documents
All travellers – citizens and residents – leaving with gold bars must obtain a statement regarding these bars from the Air Cargo Customs Department at the Kuwait Airport before travelling, within the framework of adherence to the applicable customs procedures, especially since it has been noted that travellers have left with large quantities of gold during the recent period, it was reported. The customs source said this phenomenon has only one meaning- the traveller who carries gold with them has converted the value of his money into gold, which must be dealt with by customs authorities in the context of laws in force to protect the traveller himself before anything.
The traveller is required to bring an invoice proving his ownership of the gold bars, in addition to his identification papers, and submit it to the Air Cargo Customs Department one day before travel to prove what bars he will carry with him during the flight, and upon his arrival at the airport, he presents the issued statement to the customs inspectors and completes the journey with ease.
About the quantity limit to be disclosed, the source indicated that any gold bars or coins, regardless of their size, small or large, must be disclosed and a statement obtained, as they are not artefacts or jewellery for personal use, as the bars are known to be a conversion process from currency to gold, and then it must be re-monetized in another country, which must be subject to an audit that ensures the following:
1- Evidence of the traveller’s ownership of the gold, as his submission of the purchase invoice in the export statement is evidence that he obtained it properly and did not obtain it as a result of any illegal behaviour.
2- Protection of travellers, both citizens and residents: Proving that citizens and residents carry these bars when travelling is one of the protection mechanisms for them, since they disclosed them directly, which proves their good faith.
Regarding the submission of a statement issued for the artefacts, the source confirmed that the gold artefacts that women carry for personal use when travelling, it is a relative matter. If they are in reasonable quantities that are used as adornment, then a statement by the female traveller is not required. But if the quantities that a woman wears are exaggerated in weight, then the matter here requires that she go through the normal procedures, including obtaining a statement issued for those artefacts.
The process of evaluating artefacts when travelling is subject to the discretion and experience of customs inspectors in Kuwait, who have the skills to enable them to estimate the situation for the traveller, which is something they deal with very high flexibility to ensure the application of the spirit of the law as well as the protection of the capabilities of citizens and residents.
Regarding large quantities of gold taken by travellers, the source indicated that the matter cannot be stopped, as Kuwait is an open market that has no restrictions, and it is part of facilitating the movement of trade and funds as long as it proceeds in the proper legal context and there are no suspicions that the movement of that gold may be linked to any activity other than legal.
