Legal Clinic

I would like to know more about the residency cancellation procedure of dependents in Kuwait. My family already left Kuwait without cancelling the residence. I am planning to leave Kuwait within one month. How do I cancel my family members’ residency?

Name withheld

Answer: So far as members of your family have left Kuwait, their residences will automatically be cancelled after six months stay outside Kuwait or upon cancellation of your own residency which ever of the two comes first and will lead to the same result so you don’t have to worry about the cancellation, it will take care of itself.

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Please, I would like to know what is the minimum salary for dependent family visa. My wife is pregnant and she will give birth in May 2020. I would like to know if my salary of KD 250 is enough for me to get a dependent visa for the child we are expecting. My wife salary is KD 240. Please I am waiting for the kind reply.

Name withheld

Answer: To be able to sponsor someone on dependent visa you should be earning a monthly salary of KD 500 and since your monthly salary is just half of the required amount, we are sorry to say that you can’t sponsor your expected child on dependent visa. This means that you have to make sure that within 60 days of the delivery of the child you have to arrange to send the child out of Kuwait. Alternatively your wife can deliver the baby outside Kuwait and return to the country before the expiry of six months in order that her residence permit will remain valid. How much your wife earning is irrelevant here as the practice of combining the salaries of spouses to meet the minimum salary requirement is no longer practised and with this it only the man’s salary which is taken into consideration.

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I would like to know if i can bring my mother on visit visa. She is 69 years old and a Widow. My father expired in 2014, she is alone in India with no one there to take care of her. My family is in Kuwait.

Name withheld

Answer: If your salary per month is KD 500 or more you can invite your mother to Kuwait on visit visa for a period of one month. On the other hand if you are thinking of a dependent visa as the tone of your writing suggests, we are not in position to give you a conclusive answer as we recently carried a news item indicating cancellation of the opportunity offered to sons to sponsor their parents on dependent visa. The anchorites concerned have neither confirmed nor dismissed the authenticity of this news item hence our inability to be definitive in our advice on the issue.

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I came to Kuwait on private company visa and changed again to another private company visa. Later I joined company on project visa. Now I have an opportunity to join a private firm, so is there any legal issues for this transfer. Waiting for the valuable information from your side.

Name withheld

Answer: Since your first time entry to Kuwait was on private company visa, you can always revert to the private company visa when you transfer to a project visa. This is how it is supposed to be but there are instances where such transfers are rejected on the narrow interpretation of the law which states that some transfers can only be made within the same visa category and not outside it. Such narrow interpretation does not take into consideration the original visa type one first entered the country with for the first time. This distinction is very important and we are sure that any officer who is aware of this will not question your right to transfer back to company visa from project visa.

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Is the criteria age limit for parents visit visa still exit? I went today to Hawalli Jawazat to apply for my parents visit visa, they asked me to get signature from Farwaniya governorate as my dad was born in 1947. Could you please advise more on this.

Name withheld

Answer: Hither to, the Ministry of Interior through the Department of Residency Affairs was not issuing visit visas for parents above 60 years of age. This restriction has since been lifted and expatriates can now obtain visit visas for their parents regardless of their age after the authorities instituted a scheme to collect medical charges for treatment of parents if the need arises. To be able to bring in parents on visit visa one should be earning a monthly salary of KD 500 and such a visa being issued will have duration of one month after entry. We are of the opinion that the request for you to get a signature from Farwaniya Governorate is just an administrative formality and not a means to reject your visa application.

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I am Indian National, bachelor degree holder, working as sales representative for a garment shop and my salary is KD 500 plus I receive KD 100 for monthly incentive. Can I apply for family visa as I heard news about some profession are not allowed even their salary is KD 500 and above. Kindly clarify in marginal profession.

Name withheld

Answer: Yes, you can apply for a family visa as you meet the minimum monthly salary requirement. In addition your designation cannot be described as marginal which can provide opportunity for your application to be rejected under the new rules recently announced.

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I am working in KNPC Kuwait, my salary is KD 1050 per month, my father’s birth-date is Dec 26, 1953 and mother’s birth-date is May 9, 1961. I want to apply for a visit visa for them. How many days they can stay in Kuwait with me. Do I have to take a visit visa or tourist visa? Is there any age criteria for visit visa of parents? Kindly advice as they are coming for the first time in Kuwait. Looking forward for a positive response soon.

Name withheld

Answer: Go ahead and apply for a visit visa for your parents and don’t worry yourself about their ages as the previous age restriction hurdle has since been removed but you have to pay a fee to cover their medical expenses should the need arises. They can also stay in Kuwait for one month should they be granted the visas.

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I am requesting an expert opinion on the following matter. I am working in a private company and this is my second company where I had completed almost six years.

Currently my residence is on my company visa while I came to Kuwait on project visa 9 years ago. I have a bank loan from NBK and I am remitting the EMI for last one year without any dues. Now my company terminated me due to client contract issue. But fortunately I got another job and the new company doesn’t have any project visa quota, only company visa quota available. The new company agreed that they would provide me visa from India.

My question is that:

1. Can I move out of the country without paying the whole loan amount? (There is no EOS because it was paid to me by the current company a few months ago). Can I show that bank the offer letter and agreement from my new company?

2. Is it possible to transfer my current visa (company visa) to new company visa. (Initially I came to Kuwait on project visa 9 years ago) Expecting your immediate reply on the above matter with high priority as my last working day is Nov. 30.

Name withheld

Answer: Before cancelling your residence and leaving Kuwait, you are supposed to settle all your contractual obligations with other parties and you will face a problem at the point of exit if you don’t do that. To forestall this, you need to meet your bankers to explain your particular situation to them and we believe a solution could be found to the mutual benefit of the two parties. As to whether you can transfer your current visa (company) to another company visa we believe that is possible since your current company visa was acquired as a result of transfer from a project visa. Having said the proceeding, we will advise that you brace yourself for any possibility since sometimes different officers give conflicting interpretation to the same law. In this perspective, one officer could say that since you initially entered Kuwait on project visa you can only transfer your current visa back to a project visa and not to another company visa as might be interpreted by a different officer.

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My wife did medical test yesterday in Um Al-Haymen and blood test at Fahaheel. How do I check the medical report after completing blood and x-ray tests? How do I know whether my wife is fit or unfit? Unfortunately if some problem is found in x-ray then what will they do? Does the Kuwait government provide another chance? Please kindly answer I’ve read your page but in my case there is no relevant answer.

Name withheld

Answer: We assume that your wife took these tests for the purpose processing her residence permit. If our assumption is correct, then the answer to your first question is that the result of the tests taken will be sent directly to the Immigration Department of the Governorate, where your wife’s documents were issued. This means that if your wife is declared fit her application for a residence permit will go through. On the other hand if she is declared unfit the test result will not be sent to Immigration and if after several visits there without any information about the test result, then your wife has to contact the Health Ministry’s Department in charge of such tests for direction.

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I have spent 6 months with my employer. If I want to resign I will give 3 months notice period so it will be nine months. After that do I still have to pay 3 months salary and amount of money spent on the visa to my employer?

Name withheld

Answer: If your employer brought you to Kuwait from your home country, then the law enjoins you to work three years for the employer before you can terminate your contract with him/ her.

On the other hand, if you were hired locally and you are not a university graduate, then the law compels you to work one year for the employer. If your are, however, a graduate, you can quit the job at any point in time but you have to give the mandatory 3 months notice.

With this explanation, your employer will be acting in accordance with the demands he/ she is making on you if you were brought from your country of origin on his/her sponsorship.

The sponsor will not be also acting ultra vires if you were hired locally but are not a university graduate. On the other hand, if you are a university graduate and was hired locally the sponsor has no right to demand any compensation from you unless you earlier entered into a signed agreement with him/her that specifically called for such a compensation in the event of a breach.

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