Kuwait’s Ministry of Health has issued Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2026, adopting the updated regulatory framework for the Wafid Programme. The Decision was issued on 7 May 2026 and gives effect in Kuwait to the updated Wafid regulations approved by the Council of Health Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states. The GCC Health Ministers’ Council, during its 38th conference in Sha’ban 1415 AH, corresponding to January 1995, adopted a decision to establish a programme for conducting medical examinations for expatriates entering the GCC countries (Wafid Programme). The Wafid Programme is the GCC framework used to regulate medical examinations for expatriates before they enter GCC countries for work, residence, visits, or other purposes determined by the Council.

The purpose of the new regulations is straightforward, but important. They are designed to ensure that expatriates are medically fit and free from diseases that may pose a risk to public health and community safety. This sits within a longer GCC public health framework, to maintain the health security of the GCC community.

Following that decision, committees are to be formed to set the relevant health requirements and medical examination regulations for expatriates. Their role included determining the necessary clinical assessments, laboratory tests, and radiological examinations to confirm physical and mental fitness and to ensure that expatriates are free from diseases, particularly infectious diseases, that could threaten the safety and security of the GCC community. Since its establishment, the GCC Health Council has worked with member states to expand the scope of the Wafid Programme to include most labour-exporting countries.

Against that background, the 2026 regulations should be seen as an update to an existing regional system rather than a completely new policy direction. They modernise the rules around accreditation, inspection, compliance, objections, and the use of the Wafid electronic system.

A key feature of the new framework is that it gives the Council of Health for the GCC States a central role in approving and monitoring medical examination centres. Under Articles 2 and 3, the Council, or its delegate, determines the health requirements for expatriates and oversees the accreditation of medical examination facilities in the countries from which expatriates travel. The Council is also responsible for implementing examination rules, forming the central and technical committees, notifying embassies and consulates of approved facilities, collecting programme-related fees, applying penalties, and continuing to develop the Wafid electronic platform.

The regulations also introduce a clearer governance structure. The Central Committee is responsible, under Article 9, for updating clinical, laboratory, and radiological examination requirements, reviewing reports, setting standards for the selection and assessment of medical centres, and determining whether facility visits should be physical or virtual. Technical committees, dealt with in Articles 11 to 14, carry out evaluations and site visits, prepare reports, and assess whether facilities are meeting the required standards. This should make the accreditation process more consistent, but it also means approved centres will need to be ready for closer scrutiny.

For medical facilities, the practical obligations are detailed. Article 15 requires approved centres to use the Wafid electronic system, register expatriate data before conducting medical examinations, carry out all required tests according to the applicable standards, maintain and update examination equipment, preserve the confidentiality of medical results, and issue medical fitness certificates within a maximum of three days from the date of examination. Facilities must also follow infection control requirements, safely dispose of medical waste, and bear full responsibility for any negligence, shortcoming, or error in the medical examination process.

The evaluation thresholds are worth noting. Unless the Council decides otherwise, Article 28 provides that facilities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt must obtain a 95% evaluation score, facilities in Asia and the Middle East must obtain 90%, and facilities in Africa must obtain 85%. Where a facility is assessed virtually, its accreditation is conditional on completion of the field visit and the outcome of that visit. If the required main standards or evaluation score are not met, the Central Committee may withdraw the accreditation under Article 29.

Medical fitness certificates issued by approved facilities are valid for two months from the date of issuance for visa purposes, as set out in Article 45, and if a facility violates the regulations, the Council may take the measures it considers appropriate, including the procedures prescribed for facility violations. The regulations also confirm that medical examination procedures apply to all expatriates entering any GCC state for work or residence, subject to age-category exemptions determined by each GCC state, and vaccination records must be uploaded to the Wafid system.

Healthcare providers participating in the Wafid Programme should review their internal procedures, staff training, data handling practices, and readiness for compliance with these issued Regulations. For employers and recruitment companies, the updated Regulations also matter because delays or non-compliance at the medical examination stage can affect visa processing.

For guidance on how these updated Wafid Programme regulations may affect healthcare providers, employers, or recruitment processes, contact GLA & Co.

Ministerial Decision No. 139 of 2026 was published in the Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm), Issue No. 1791, dated 17 May 2026.

Authors: Asad Ahmad, Partner and Liana Rashid, Trainee Lawyer