Hello Everyone! My name is Hulda Destin and I just completed my first year in Kuwait. I was teaching 3rd grade at Dasman Bilingual school and will be returning at the end of this summer. My first year was great due to making lots of new friends and becoming closer to old friends. I loved my school, the department that I was teaching in was great and my parents were all very great and supportive!

OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT ME!!! The journey to get to Kuwait was a bit tough with the visa process. It was quite costly for me and I came to Kuwait with less than 150 dollars. LE STRUGGLE ÉTAIT REAL! I know that you all might have so many emotions as you’re about to embark on this new journey. The visa process is a struggle, but once your passport is back in your hands from the Kuwaiti embassy and that flight is booked then it will all be worth it. I know that you’re feeling overwhelmed with all of this because I definitely was. If you have any questions AFTER reading this then please leave a question with your email address in the comment section and I will answer it ASAP.

First, if you go to this website (Kuwaiti Embassy Work Visa Website) then they will tell you everything that you need to send down to the Kuwaiti embassy in either Washington D.C. or Los Angeles. Please go to the website to see which location is best to send your documents. For example if you live in the state of New Jersey then you would have to send all of your stuff down to Washington D.C. Also when I was going through this process, it was reallllly hard to get in contact with the embassy! Anyways, I hope that this blog piece helps you out and makes the process a bit easier for you!

Here are all the things that you need to send to the Kuwaiti embassy, once you are able to acquire every piece of document!

1. Valid passport with a minimum of two (2) years prior to expiration date.
   • If you don’t have a passport yet, please get one ASAP, here is the link —-> How to obtain a passport?
2. One completed current visa application form as issued by Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
   • Here is the application, please print it out —> Visa Application Form
   • I forgot to send this at first, but luckily the lady from the embassy called me and told me to fax it over right away. It took me less than 5 minutes to send it to her because I have this app where you pay less than 2$ to fax stuff over. It’s called Tiny Fax! Unfortunately, I believe that it’s only available for apple users! (Tiny Fax APP)
3. One passport-size photo.
   • You can get one at your local Walgreens or CVS for less than $12!
4. HIV test (AIDS test).
   • Detailed information under Medicals (keep scrolling please) 
5. Health Certificate: Obtained from the local doctor certifying that the patient is in good health and free from contagious diseases. Lab test results for the following: hepatitis B & C, malaria, filariasis, syphilis and chest X-ray for tuberculosis.
   • Detailed information under Medicals (keep scrolling please) 
6. No Criminal Record: Obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), valid within three months of the issuance date of the Permit. The “No Criminal Record” has to be certified first by the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., then legalized by the Embassy with a $25.00 Authentication fee.
   1. This website is so much better, because it will take less than two weeks. Here is the link: http://www.myfbireport.com/
   2. Do not start the police check until your school ask you to because the police check is to be dated near the date that the NOC is issued or otherwise it will be rejected. Remember the NOC will come from your school and they will send you an email once they have received it. The website above is awesome because 2 weeks is a lot better than using other places that usually take 8-10 weeks. If it’s an emergency, you can also get your FBI report in 24 to 48 hours on that website.
   3. Once you receive your FBI report back, you MUST get it certified FIRST by the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C…. Here is the website State Department Authentication Services 
      • You can request authentication services in three ways.
        • Mail
        • By appointment
        • By walking in
   4. The service fee cost 8$ for each document that you might have to get authenticated. On the website, you can see the different forms of payments.
      • You might also have to get other things authenticated from your school. So please talk to them, I know that you definitely have to get your diploma authenticated. Here is the Kuwaiti Embassy website with the authenticated information process —->  Authentication of Documents Kuwaiti Embassy If you continue to scroll, I will go into more details about the authentication process.
        • 1st send FBI report, the DS-419 form, a pre-paid envelope, and the 8$ fee down to the US State Department, so that it could get certified. Once you receive it back after about a week then hold on to it until all your other items are ready.
7. The work permit.
   • YOUR school should send you this via mail from Kuwait. You can NOT send everything down to the Kuwaiti embassy unless you have the work permit.
     • Your school will need to send you a “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) with which you can enter Kuwait. This is your ‘work permit’.
8. Fee of 175$ PLUS the 25$ fee for the FBI report authentication
   • All payments should be paid to the official name: Embassy of the State of Kuwait.
9. PRE-PAID SELF-ADDRESSED RETURN ENVELOPE!!!

IMPORTANT!!!! Passports sent by mail should include a stamped, self-addressed return envelope.

Checklist before sending everything down to the Kuwaiti embassy…

1. Passport
2. passport photo
3. Visa Application Form
4. Medical results and LETTER from doctor saying that you are in good health and that you are free from those contagious diseases. (Make sure that that they list them in the letter). \
5. FBI report certified from the US State Department (it should have a tan covering once you get it back from the State Department)
6. Work permit from your school (NOC)
7. Fee of $175 plus the $25 authentication fee for the FBI report… I used a money order from CVS which cost me like $2! I just did ONE money order for $200. 
8. Pre-paid self-address return envelope!

 

TAKE A DEEP BREATHE NOW AND BEGIN TO START PACKING IF YOU HAVEN’T STARTED ALREADY!

 

Medicals 

Some of the blood test, such as filariasis and malaria were quite difficult to find. It was definitely frustrating because googling was not any help. Thank God for Ciarra because she was able to send me the link or else I would have never found it. I didn’t have any insurance and all these tests cost about $300. There are 7 tests that you have to take, 6 blood test and one x-ray.

1. Hepatitis B & C, syphilis, and the HIV (AIDS) test $200
   • These 4 tests altogether were around $200 on https://www.stdcheck.com/std-test-pricing.php
     • You can pay for them individually or you could do a package deal where it’s $199 for 10 different STD test. The HIV and the syphilis test were each $79, so it makes more sense to buy the package.
   • Another site that I just found is https://www.healthtestingcenters.com/package/basic-std-package/
     • It’s $189 and they have a special that could cut the price down by $25 which is way better. This package includes the HIV, hepatitis B & C, and the syphilis test. With the special, it would end up being $164.
2. Filariasis & Malaria $40-129 USD
   • The filariasis and malaria tests were extremely hard to find, but if you go to https://www.accesalabs.com/Parasite-Testing VOILA, it’s right there for you! IMPORTANT: Please inform the phlebotomist to include ‘filariasis’ on the lab report! This one is more expensive, about $122.
   • ***HOWEVER, my friend Tiana also sent me to an amazing website where this test is a lot cheaper! Another resource for the filariasis/malaria test is privatemdlabs.com.privatemdlabs.com. It’s only $40-50!! 
3. Chest X-ray for tuberculosis (TB) $50
   • You can easily book an appointment with your doctor for the Chest x-ray. If you want to get one ASAP or if you do not have insurance then you can go to the nearest Urgent Care and pay about $50 for one.

You can use these following websites or you could just go to your doctor and listen to your doctor’s recommendations.

AFTER YOU GET ALL THESE TESTS, you must take the results to your doctor or any doctor so that they can write you a letter saying that you are in good health. I took mine to my nearest Urgent Care and paid about $75 for a basic check up, so that the doctor could also write me a letter stating that I was in good health. You will NEED to send the LETTER (health certificate) and all of the medical results down to the Kuwait Embassy in Washington D.C.! Make sure that you make copies for your own record!

Authentication 

Okay you might have to get several stuff authenticated. You can send this separately from everything above. You should probably get this stuff authenticated NOW because the process is quite annoying!!!! I actually sent my stuff to get authenticated before I left for Kuwait and used my friend’s address (SHOUTOUT TO BRANDI) because I knew that I would not receive it on time. Luckily I sent it to her or else I would have to have it shipped to Kuwait for over 100 USD and that was a huge NO NO! So please get it done NOW, so that you will have plenty of time. There is a list of documents that your school might ask you to get authenticated, so that you can bring it with you to Kuwait. It could from your diploma to your birth certificate to even a marriage certificate, it all depends on your school. The only thing that I had to get authenticated was my diploma. I will show you the steps of what I did below. You can follow the same steps with the other documents and do them all at the same time.

The Kuwaiti website have all the different documents that they authenticate, so please check it out. http://www.kuwaitembassy.us/page/personal-documents

Diploma 

• Cover letter from applicant stating the purpose for authentication and the applicant contact information.
  • Just write a simple letter and sign it. 
• Original diploma or copy certified by a notary public, Secretary of state and the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.
  • This part was a bit complicated because I was just so lost, but looking back it was actually pretty easy and would have taken less than a week and a half to get it back!
    • 1st- Take your ID, a COPY of your diploma, and the original diploma to a bank or a place that notarize documents.  (The bank notarize your documents for FREE if you’re a member or even if you’re not a member). In front of the banker who was notarizing my document I wrote on the COPY of my document “I, Hulda Destin acknowledge that this is a certify copy of my actual diploma”.
    • 2nd- Now you have to take the notarized copied diploma to your local courthouse (county clerk). Luckily mine was right across from the bank! This notary certification confirms that the notary public that endorsed your document(s) is authorized to do so in your state. You can go to your county courthouse and they will have someone there to do it for a small fee of under $10. It depends on every county. This will take less than 10 minutes to do.
    • 3rd- Now you have to get a certification for this document by your secretary of state. You can either mail it in or take it down in person. For NJ I believe that if you decided to mail it, it would have taken about a month back to get back to you! The best thing to do was to go in person and get it done. If you live in NJ, here is the website (http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/revenue/apostilles.shtml), if you don’t like in NJ, then please google something like “Secretary of State Notary Certification for (insert state)”. I had to catch an hour train to get to the one in Trenton, NJ. I dropped the copied notarized diploma off with a 25$ money order. They will also make you fill out a form, the form is also available on their website! Everything adds up! So if you have to get three things authenticated, then thats 75$ or could be more or less depending on your secretary of state! I had to take the hour long train back to Trenton the next day to pick it up! Luckily they only needed one day to process and finish it. 
    • 4th- FINALLY the last step is that you have to send it to the US State Department in Washington D.C (there’s levels to this sh*t lol literally)! Remember that process that you had to do with your FBI report, well it’s the same. (Authentication of Documents Kuwaiti Embassy). Send your certified document, the DS-419 form, a pre-paid envelope, and the 8$ fee down to the US State Department, so that it could get certified. Once you receive it back after about a week then hold on to it until all your other items are ready.
• Copy of the diploma.
  • Super easy part!
• Copy of applicant passport.
  • Another super easy part!
• Official Sealed transcript.
  • You should prob request this from your school ASAP because some schools usually take a while to send it to you. Luckily I live about a 5 minute train ride from Rutgers, so it took me about 3 days to pick it up from them. 
• Verification of the diploma from www.studentclearinghouse.org.
  • Just fill out the information from that website, here is a shortcut (https://nscverifications.org/) and then pay a 20$ fee. Yup there’s a fee for EVERYTHING!
• Prepaid self-addressed envelope for return.
  • I paid about 8$ for a One rate FedEx envelope!
• Fees: $25 each by money order made payable to “Embassy of the State of Kuwait”; personal checks are not accepted.

Wowwwww finally done, hopefully I did not forget anything! I hope that you got something from this! Remember if you have any questions AFTER reading this then please leave a question with your email address in the comment section and I will answer it ASAP.

Please remember to subscribe!!!! Or share this to any of your friends who might find this information useful! Also, check out the rest of my blog!

Follow my Instagram travel page travel_with_hulda