Legal Clinic

I was employed with my previous company for 2 months and they gave me a visa with “Driver” as my designation since going from place to place was part of my job as a technical support staff member. I did not finish my probation and left the company after 2 months since I had a better offer from my current employer as an IT support. I worked from a general trading company to a bank (current).

If my visa is transferred from Driver to Technical Asst / PC Support / IT Support with the current employer, will I be eligible to apply for a driver’s license considering my salary is KD 400 and now that I have lived in Kuwait for 2 years since Oct 1?

Name withheld

Answer: No, you will not be able to apply for the license because the salary ceiling has now been raised to KD 600 from the previous KD 400. So, as you don’t meet all the conditions for a driving license your application will not be accepted.

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I live in Salmiya in an old building which consists of 3 floors but the condition of the building is very good. Our last contract was renewed in 2013 in which they increased our flat rent.

All our contracts for this flat are renewed every year and we also have our last year’s contract with us. I have been staying in this building with my family since August 1992, which is over 20 years (the building is more than 25 years old).

Yesterday, the landlord sent a representative to our building and he gave all the tenants of the building his terms for the evacuation of the building without any notice from the court.

Furthermore, he stated that the tenants could either take rent in advance for 5 months from Oct 31, 2016 and vacate the flat from Oct 31, 2016 or stay for 3 months from Oct 31, 2016 to Jan 30, 2017 without rent. He gave us 1 day to think about the terms which he had stated above as he wanted us to sign a paper.

Furthermore, he was saying that they want to demolish the building. When he came today he repeated the same. All the tenants told him if he wants us to vacate the building he has to show us the notice of demolition from the Municipality which he did not have.

All the tenants of the building said that the landlord should let them stay for 6 months without rent but the representative rejected the request and said he would file the case against the tenants and left the building.

Kindly advice us what we should do and what does the law state on the above situation as he said he won’t be showing or bringing the notice from any where. Does he have the right to kick us all out of the building without notice. And next time if he come with the notice only from his company to vacate the flats and not the papers from the Municipality … what should we do.

Name withheld
Answer: The landlord has the right to demolish the building once it is over 25 years old and he doesn’t need to show you the Municipality notice.

On the other hand if he files a case against you, the law will be on his side because of the 25-year clause. So, if that happens, not only will you have to leave the building at some stage — in fact you might get only a 3-month notice, you will also have to pay the rent for all the three months that you stay there.

The landlord can also take his offer off the table and there is nothing you can do about it. So, the best thing would be to take the offer he has given you before you end up losing everything.

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A certain pre-school situated in Mangaf has higher school fees compared to other Indian schools of the same standard. The school fees of this school are even higher than the fees charged by its parent school. I want to bring this to the notice of concerned authorities for further verification. What is the procedure for making a complaint? Is it possible to submit the complaint online?

Name withheld

Answer: You can submit a complaint to the Private Education Department, Block 10, Salmiya — right next to the Indian Community School — but remember the complaint can’t be anonymous.

You can also visit the website of the Ministry of Education or the Private Education Department to write a complaint.

Here also the complainant can’t be anonymous and you will have to give all your details –name, Civil ID number, email address and cellphone number.

But action will only be initiated against the school if it has raised the fees without the permission of the Ministry of Education. But if it has the ministry’s blessing you will not be able to do anything.

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I would like to inform you that I am legally divorced and have a 12-year-old son with me. I have faced problems all these years when I renew the residency for my son. I need to remove my former husband’s name from the passport and put my current husband’s name instead. Because of my ex-husband’s name in the passport we can’t do any financial transaction or travel to any other country. Please let me know process and possibility.

Name withheld

Answer: The change in name on the passport also involves changes in the residence papers. The process is not at all difficult. It may take a few weeks and that’s all. So, first you have to approach your embassy for the changes in the passport details and then the Immigration Department.

So once the details on the passport have been corrected, you need to correct the details on your Kuwait documents and matchs them with your passport. This is not too difficult. You have to approach the Immigration Department in your area first.

You will have to fill a form with the details you want corrected. You will then be directed to the Fingerprints Department to confirm that you are the “same person” with “different names”.

Once you get the security report, you have to go back to the Immigration Department which will make the corrections in its computer system. To this computer system are connected all the important departments of Kuwait.

The Immigration Department will also put a new residence sticker in your passport. This means the required corrections have been made. You can now approach all the departments — for Civil ID and driving license — to have all the details on these documents corrected. You won’t face any problems. So, get started on the work quickly so that you don’t run into any hurdles in the future.

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I am an Indian and have been living in Kuwait for the last 4 years. My wife came to Kuwait in February 2016. At that time she was pregnant — 3 months. While doing medical tests for residency stamping, she was not able to do X-ray due to pregnancy. So the hospital staff made out the health certificate with the condition that after delivering the baby she needs to do X-Ray on 25-10-2016. With the help of that paper I managed to get residence on my wife’s passport, until April 2017. My question is, my wife can travel to India after clearing the X-Ray or do we need to get new residency and only then she can travel??

Name withheld

Answer: Just do the X-ray and if it’s okay you don’t have to do anything else because you already have the residence. The residence of a person is only affected if his health report is not okay.

So, once the X-ray report is found to be okay just travel where ever you want. You will not face any problems nor do you need to get any new residence.

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I want to bring my wife and newborn baby to Kuwait. But my salary is KD 200. Is it possible to get the visas with the same salary … Because my Kuwaiti (sponsor) has promised to get me the visas with same salary.

Name withheld

Answer: The minimum salary required, for a dependent visa is KD 250 so we don’t know what your sponsor is talking about. If your salary is less than KD 250 on the work permit the Immigration Department will not even entertain your application. So, the simple answer is “no … you can’t get a dependent visa with this salary”.

I have a newborn angel and I want her to stay with me in Kuwait. I am preparing my papers for the visa of my baby. But my visa will expire in February 2017. Do you think I could complete her residence formalities in time so I will not have to pay any penalty. My baby was delivered on Aug 11, 2016. Up to now I am getting insurance for her. Do you think the ministry will consider my visa status.

Name withheld

Answer: You are supposed to complete all the residence formalities — medical exam, health insurance, stamping of residence and Civil ID — of your child within 60 days of the child’s birth.

This means all the formalities should have been completed by Oct 9, 2016 and if these have not been done by now you will face legal action. You have to complete all the formalities within the 60 days regardless of your residence status … there is no excuse.

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I am a licensed nurse (both in the Philippines and in Kuwait). I worked in a dental clinic for almost 6 years.

Recently, I have been facing problems with the seniors and the owner decided to terminate me. At first, he told me that he will release me on one condition and that is I could apply only to work in private clinics.

I was happy knowing that he will finally release me … I sent applications to different clinics hoping that one of those will give me a better job offer.

After 3 days, I got a call for a job interview and they gave me job offer. They asked me to give them my copy of the license, signature form and work permit but when I went back to my old clinic I found out that the owner of my previous changed his mind. He told me that he will not give me a release. He said that it was a mistake when he said that. He also said that I should go back to the Philippines.

Now, I need your legal opinion. What can I do in this matter? Is there any option for me? If I go to Shoun, what is the process and how long will it take before I can get a release and find a job.

Name withheld

Answer: The clinic can’t stop you from transferring to another firm/clinic because you have already spent six years with the current one.

If you transferred to this firm locally then you need to spend only one year with the company before you can transfer to another company … and if you were hired from abroad then you need to spend only three years before seeking a release.

So, if the sponsor refuses to give you the release, approach the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, through the Labor Office in your area, and the transfer will be sanctioned.

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I got my driving license in 2012 with the designation of “driver” but my current designation is ????? . Will I be able to renew my license in 2022 with the same designation ????? or not.

Name withheld

Answer: Your driving license will not be renewed if the designation on the work permit is changed to something other than driver. And as the validity of the driving license is nowadays tied to the residence, you won’t have to wait until 2022 to see your license cancelled. By the way, 2022 is a very long way off and we can’t talk about laws over the next six years because laws on the issue change very fast. We only give advice according the laws already in place.

My license was issued in 2005 and expired in November 2015. I had left Kuwait but returned in July 2016. My current profession is supervisor. Will my expired Kuwait license be renewed. My profession was engineer when it was issued in 2005.

Name withheld

Answer: Once you leave Kuwait and your residence is cancelled, so is your driving — it is irrelevant when it expires. The rule is simple — no residence, no driving license. Now when you re-enter Kuwait, you have to apply for the renewal of your driver’s license after completion of your residence formalities. Normally, the Traffic Department has no objection to the renewal and only asks you to undergo the eye test. It does, however, sometimes object to the renewal in which case you will have to reapply for the license after meeting all the conditions.

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I really appreciate having your advice on driving license rules in Kuwait. I have been offered a manager’s position with a salary of KD 1,900 and have a university degree. I am supposed to come to Kuwait soon but the company isn’t clear on the issue and says the following:

“As the Degree is a technical university degree and not a Masters, the Ministry will not be able to grant you a managerial title. However, your University Educational Level will be reflected on your work permit. I have spoken to the GRD Team and it will not affect your banking or being able to apply for a license. They cannot guarantee the license but with most cases its assessed on a case to case basis should you not have to fulfil a list of requirements to apply.”

Please could you kindly inform me whether I will face any challenge to get a driving license?

Name withheld

Answer: Yes, you will face a challenge in getting a driving license if you don’t get a designation — on the work permit — which allows you to get an exemption from the General Traffic Department.

If you don’t get an exemption, you will have to fulfil all the following three conditions to apply for the license:

1. Have a university degree

2. Earn at least KD 600 a month

3. Must have been a resident of Kuwait for at least two years at the time of application

So, it is clear that you will not be able to meet the third condition — unless you get an exemption — as you will just be arriving in Kuwait … and to get the exemption you need to have one of those many designations which are given the exemption. So, it is better you talk to your company about the issue.

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I am an Indian and visited the Abbassiya telephone exchange on Oct 3, 2016 at around 11:00 am, to pay my phone bill, wearing shorts (covering up to the knee) and a T-shirt with color and half sleeve. As soon as I entered the premises one of the three men sitting at the reception asked me in Arabic ‘what you want’.

I politely told them I had come to make payment against my land phone subscription. But he denied entry to the office saying “go and change your shorts as this is not a beach”. Please advise if there is any so-called ‘law’ on dress code to enter government premises or maybe the Kuwaiti men on duty didn’t like seeing another nationals wearing shorts or casuals because I have seen people visiting government offices wearing shorts and T-shirts. If I was not wrong how can I file a complaint against them for humiliating me and wasting my time and what is the procedure.

Name withheld
Answer: Just because some people are allowed to walk into an office in any dress, this doesn’t mean that office doesn’t have a dress code. A lot of offices ignore inappropriately dressed people but there are some officers who feel offended when the same people walk into an establishment in shorts or some other dress they consider “inappropriate”.

Just let us ask you a very simple question — Does your own workplace allow you to attend office in shorts.

The answer — at least 99 per cent of the times — would be “no”. So, why get offended when you are stopped for the same by officers of a ministry or another firm.

So, the officer who stopped you was not wrong … wrong are those officers who just ignore people wearing any dress when they come to an office.

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]