The Kuwaiti nationality law is the legal pathway for non-nationals to become citizens of the State of Kuwait.

[2] The State of Kuwait formally has an official Nationality Law which grants non-nationals a legal pathway to obtain citizenship.

[1] However, access to citizenship in Kuwait is autocratically controlled by the Al Sabah ruling family, it is not subject to any external regulatory supervision.

[3][4][5][6][7][2][8][9][10] In the three decades after independence in 1961, the Al Sabah ruling family naturalized hundreds of thousands of foreign Bedouin immigrants predominantly from Saudi Arabia.

[12][6] The foreign Bedouin immigrants were mainly naturalized to alter the demographic makeup of the citizen population in a way that makes the power of the Al Sabah ruling family more secure.

[2] Although non-nationals constitute 70% of Kuwait's total population, the Al Sabah ruling family persistently denies citizenship to most non-nationals including those who fully satisfy the requirements for naturalization as stipulated in the state's official Nationality Law.

The Kuwaiti authorities permit the forgeries of hundreds of thousands of politically-motivated naturalizations,[2][12] while simultaneously denying citizenship to the Bedoon.

[2][12] The politically-motivated naturalizations were noted by the United Nations, political activists, scholars, researchers, and even members of the Al Sabah family.

The most recent proposal was made by Saleh Ashour who suggested the repeal of item 5 of article 4 of the nationality law.

[24] The government has the authority to strip individuals of their Kuwaiti citizenship without providing any reason and Kuwait's courts are not allowed to handle appeals.

[31] The lack of judicial oversight means that citizenship revocation occurs without a fair trial or an opportunity for appeal.

[31] The lack of transparency and recourse in the process of revoking citizenship, as well as its arbitrary application, is a violation of human rights.

"[31][32] Human rights organizations have raised concerns over the potential for statelessness, lack of due process in citizenship revocations, and the discriminatory impact on vulnerable groups, including naturalized Bedoon, elderly women, Shia Muslims, and children.

- A human rights defender disputed her claims, stating that in many cases this is not true and citizenship revocation can be random.

[38] However, Kuwaiti women who have sex out-of-marriage voluntarily and get pregnant in Kuwait can face jail terms along with her partner.