Not to belabor this point, but maybe it is worth mentioning what the real ramifications of overstaying a visa can be.
First of all, discard any notion of how it is done in America. America has its own, unique, fucked-up and broken system of immigration that has always differed from other countries (see Statue of Liberty, et.al.) Exceptional, you could call it. Other countries are a lot less open to foreigners, and restrict them far more.
In most countries, including Kuwait, there is no "Visa Police" who come knocking on your door when you've overstayed. I wasn't implying that in anything I posted.
But people do get arrested. Usually it is the result of an otherwise innocuous encounter with a police officer. If a cop in a lot of countries sees a foreigner break a minor law, often he will say something. For example, if I were to litter, a cop could come over and tell me not to litter and ask to see my ID (i.e. passport). If everything looks fine, he'll probably give me a warning and let me go. He may issue a ticket if he wants to be a prick. But if he notices I am out of status, he will take me back to the police station. I'm avoiding powerleveling here as much as I can, but when I have been abroad for extended stays, I've had cops force me to get off a bicycle, ostensibly to check if the bike has been stolen. While they were at it, they always asked for my papers. I was even escorted to police stations a couple times when I didn't have a registration for the bike. I was never actually arrested, because I don't steal bikes or overstay visas. But all us tourist-visa expats knew people personally who were busted for all sorts of petty things (trouble in bars the most common one), and then deported or arrested when it turned out their visa was expired. It is a daily part of life if you are living abroad on multiple tourist visas. Sure, every country is different, but not that different. East Asian countries are usually the strictest, but Middle Eastern countries are generally stricter than European. Especially in countries that are relatively homogenous, where foreigners stick out easily. Clotso really sticks out.
Can you bribe a cop? Sure, you can try. But even in corrupt countries, bribery is still illegal. You may try to bribe someone who is steadfastly honest despite corruption in his country, and get arrested for that. Or your paltry bribe might insult the cop, and he hauls you in because the praise he gets from his boss is worth more than your grubby bills. Even the most venal persons often pick and choose what bribes to take; it gives them a sense of power they don't ordinarily have. If your bribe works, and the cop lets you go, then you've got the next cop to contend with some time in the future. As for bribing those who actually issue the visas, it is unlikely El Fatard would know who to bribe or how much; there will be more than one person involved, and there are a lot of crosschecks that need to be neutralized. While a bribe may get you out of a particular jam, it is not a workable long-term strategy and it bears a lot of risk. And while Kuwait may have a lot of corruption, they also have a sophisticated immigration system that doesn't favor legal residents, let alone illegal ones.
So the real problem with overstaying is the sense of paranoia it instills. You know every single day that today could be the day you get busted for riding a bicycle or littering or shooting video in a cemetery or something. Cops become something to fear and avoid, because if they decide to speak to you, they will always want to see your ID. Draw the wrong attention to yourself, and your jig will be up. That is what our heroine is facing if she overstays. That, plus a fine that grows daily. She might get away with it for decades since she mostly stays in the fartbox, but I just don't think so. She isn't really a grey person who can blend in well with the surroundings.
