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Forged medical and scientific certificates referred to prosecutors in batches: Kuwait's degree-equivalency law, its penalties, and what they mean for a foreign-trained doctor
The Gulf states employ more foreign-trained doctors than anywhere else in the world, and Kuwait has spent recent years tightening the law that decides whether a foreign qualification counts.
According to the Arab Times, Kuwait's Minister of Education in August 2024 referred a third batch of forged scientific and medical certificates, held by employees of the ministry itself, to the Public Prosecution, as part of a continuing effort against fake credentials. Times Kuwait reported the new law on academic degree equivalency: violations of the equivalency rules can bring up to a year's imprisonment and fines of 1,000 to 5,000 dinars, while anyone who knowingly accepts a non-equivalent certificate faces up to five years in prison and dismissal from public employment. Lexis Middle East summarised the Ministry of Health's rules of December 2025 for licensing doctors and allied professions, which include mandatory verification of qualifications, updated competency frameworks and stricter oversight of professional conduct. Earlier reporting recorded Kuwaiti authorities dismantling a ring based abroad that forged medical reports, with two expatriates arrested over links to it.
The equivalency law is the part a student should read twice. In Kuwait, as in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a foreign degree is not accepted on sight; it is assessed for equivalence, and the assessment asks where the student physically studied, for how long, and whether the institution is recognised by the home country's regulator. A degree from an online programme, a branch campus, or a college that admitted beyond capacity can fail equivalency years after graduation, when the doctor applies for a Gulf job, and the penalties now fall on the applicant as well as the forger.
Before enrolling anywhere with the Gulf in mind, ask the destination regulator, in writing, whether graduates of your intended university have been granted equivalency; the answer is a matter of record. And never let an agent "help" with the equivalency file: a certificate that is altered to fit the rules is the offence the 2024 referrals were about.
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