I’m a European working here in Kuwait. My wife is here on a family visa, and is not working. She is a teacher and a beautician. She would like to teach other women small tips and tricks about hair and beauty at home, maximum 2 times a week, maximum 6 people. Can she legally do that without any registration at the ministry or how would be the proper way to do it, so there will be no conflict with the law?

Name withheld

Answer: While a lot of persons would say just go ahead and do it because you would be operating from home, we would advise you against taking such a step if the aim is commercial because you would be violating the law. As long your wife does not charge for her work, it would be OK.

But the moment money is involved she would be violating the law. As long as her work goes unnoticed, if she is working without permission, all would be OK but the moment the attention of the authorities is drawn to her, action could be taken and this could included deportation and being blacklisted.

This would mean that you will not be able to get her back to Kuwait for at least a year. So that means the best thing would be to first approach the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and later Kuwait Municipality to get the various permissions.

You will also require a Kuwaiti sponsor. While a lot of people are operating such businesses without permission, it is against the law. They are earning a lot of money and may say that permission is not required for their businesses but they are wrong. So please get the required permission so that you have some peace of mind while operating your business.