Legal Clinic

  • Stamping of residence renewal period & staying outside Kuwait for more then 6 months

    Residency (dependent visa) of my wife and child is valid till Jan 13, 2020. I am planning to send my wife and daughter end of July, as my wife goes for second baby delivery. And after delivery, she and my child will be back to Kuwait on April 2020.

    In this situation, I request you to clarify my following queries.

    1) Can I renew the residency of my wife and daughter 6 months before its expiry (it expires on Jan 13, 2020 and I need to renew after July 13, 2019 before they travel). Please note that, I am the sponsor and my residency expires on December 2020.

    2) My wife will be out of Kuwait for more than 6 months. Can I get permission for my wife and daughter to stay out of the country for more than 6 months? Please clarify my above queries.

    Name withheld

    Answer: Yes, you can renew the residency of your wife and child six months before expiry according to a decision issued on July 17, 2017. There are situations under which residents can be given permission to stay outside Kuwait for more than six months but unfortunately, we don’t think your wife and child qualify to be granted such a dispensation.

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  • Validity of stay on visit visa for Wife

    I am an Indian and would like to bring my wife on visit visa. My salary is more than KD 1,000 per month. Under current rules, can my wife stay 90 days after entry in Kuwait without paying penalty after one month?

    Name withheld

    Answer: Under current rules governing visit visa your wife can stay in Kuwait for three months after entry. Indeed your children can also stay for this duration when they come in on visit visa; for other relatives the duration is one month.

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  • Transferring from Visit Visa to Dependent/Family visa

    My query is: I brought my family (wife and son) in Kuwait. Wife has family visa and now she received Kuwait Civil ID as well. My son (4.5 years old) has visit visa because his passport validity is eight months (as per rule passport validity shall be at least one year). So shall I transfer my son’s visit visa to family visa? If yes, then first I have to apply for passport renewal or I have to change visit visa to family visa then passport renewal/

    Name withheld

    Answer: Unfortunately, you cannot transfer your son’s visit visa to a family visa. The practice of such transfers has since been stopped except for infants two years and below.

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  • Procedures for expat to go to Hajj from Kuwait

    What is the procedure to go to Hajj from Kuwait, I have been working in Kuwait for the past four years, kindly give me the solution.

    Name withheld

    Answer: Unfortunately, embarking on the Hajj from Kuwait as a non-Kuwaiti, is almost impossible these days as expatriates are advised to go back to their countries to embark on the holy journey.

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  • Scammer calling to verify documents from Kuwait ministries

    Could you offer an opinion/ advice on the following:

    I have been getting calls from persons claiming to be from various ministries, instructing that documentation is required to be verified and memberships of different groups are required, with statement of “it must be completed within 48 hours (with a high cost) or legal repercussion will follow (arrest, prison, deportation, fines, public prosecution etc.)”.

    The calls sometimes come with the +965 prefix or as UNKNOWN, the caller states that they are from one department or other departments within various Kuwait ministries. I have now got to the point that after all the threats, I have no money left and what pay I receive each month is sent to them.

    I am at the point of going to the MOI to see if a case against these persons should be filed, however if true then the issue may get worse.

    I do truly believe in my heart that the Kuwaiti people who work in the ministries would not make threats like this. I do hope that you can advise me on this soon, as they want another amount of money. I am sorry to trouble you on this, but I may have gotten tied up in a scam.

    Name withheld

    Answer: In the first place you were very wrong in parting with monies to these faceless callers who are nothing but scammers, pure and simple. We advise that you put an immediate stop to such payments and also make a report to the nearest police station armed with documents concerning such payment made in the past. Granting that your documents needed to be checked should that involve paying monies under duress? Defi- nitely not but if it turns out to be so, people involved in that must be brought to book.

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  • Getting a better offer – Submitting resignation

    I am presently working in a private firm which executes oil and gas projects and my residency permit is valid till Aug 11, 2019. Now I have a new offer from another company of similar type of work and I am likely to submit my resignation with my present employer tomorrow. I would like to know the following:

    1) Can I submit the resignation mentioning my last working day as Aug 11, 2019 and is it acceptable legally?

    2) If in case my present employer accepts my resignation with the above requirement, is there a requirement of paying salary back to my present employer? I request you to check and revert back at the earliest. Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Name withheld

    Answer: The fact that your residency permit expires on Aug 11, 2019 does not mean that your services with the company ends on that date and hence, to submit your resignation and mentioning that date as your last working day will not be legally right as you would have skipped the legally binding three months notification period prior to the resignation becoming effective. In this scenario, unless your current company is willing to dispense with the notice period, you will be legally bound to pay the company in lieu of the number of months you won’t be able to work for it to serve as the notice period.

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  • Driving License for Student studying in USA

    I am 18 years old and I study in USA. Since I am a girl I am still under my father’s residence. Am I eligible to get a driving licence?

    Name withheld

    Answer: We are sorry, but we don’t think you can apply for a driving licence as you are not studying here in Kuwait.

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  • Submitting resignation

    I want to know what is the official way for submitting my resignation to the company, also is there anything specific that I have to include in my resignation letter. Please advise.

    Name withheld

    Answer: You need to write officially to the company stating your intention to resign and the date on which the resignation will take effect. This effective date must be the date after the completion of the three-month notice period. In the resignation letter you may include reasons behind your resignation or it will be alright to attribute it to personal reasons.

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  • Release – Boss not kindest person want to leave the company

    I am currently working in Kuwait, originally from the UK. I came over via my company and my company sponsored my visa and now my civil ID (for two years). I have worked with the company almost 5 months and there is no specific end date for my contract, it just states I should give 3 months notice.

    My boss is not the kindest and typically is unwilling to let employees go. I would like to move on to a different employment here in Kuwait but I don’t think he would make it easy for me to be released.

    What would my best course of action be? And what would he typically have to do other than signing my release?

    Would I still have to leave the country and then come back in?

    Could he block me while I am out of the country to stop me coming back in (yes he would do this as he is possessive) Would my residency have to be sponsored by my new company?

    What about my civil ID which has been done for two years. What are my options here? And would it be worth getting the British Embassy or lawyer involved?

    Please get back to me as I am very confused.

    Name withheld

    Answer: According to the Labour Law, when a company brings you from your home country to work in Kuwait, you will be required to work three years for the company before you can ask for a release.

    In plain language, the law is on the side of your boss and if he decides not to give you a release before the expiry of three years there is very little that you can do except to demand for cancellation of the contract and be returned to your home country.

    But remember that in resorting to the latter option your boss might demand compensation for the years left unserved. As you stated, your boss has nothing to do other than signing the release paper but the point is that without him signing the release paper, there won’t be any movement on your part. The issue of leaving the country and coming back doesn’t arise if one gets a release. You only leave the country to come back when you get sponsorship from a new company.

    When you sever ties with your current company either through a release or cancellation of your visa, your residency and civil ID will both have to be the responsibility of the new company if you have one. To be frank, you don’t have many options here except if you can prove that your boss has broken the terms of your contract and in which case you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour through the department in your area. To make things easier for you, you can hire a lawyer but we don’t see the role the British Embassy can play here except in a situation where your rights are being violated.

    Kindly go through our archives and refrain from sending us repeated questions
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  • Mother sponsoring children

    My husband and I have been working in Kuwait for the past ten years. Our two kids were also born in Kuwait. But due to my husband’s health issues he decided to retire and went back to the country along with kids. However, for kids betterment I decided to work here in Kuwait. I have been earning KD500/-. Is there any possibilities I can bring my kids back to Kuwait as their sponsor? Kindly respond to this e-mail as earliest possible. This is very important to us.

    Name withheld

    Answer: Under Kuwait law the husband is clothed with the authority to sponsor members of the family (wife and children) on dependent visa on condition that he meets the stipulated requirements. This is not withstanding, in rare cases and on compassionate grounds the wife can be allowed to sponsor the kids but before this is done the Director- General of the Immigration Department must give the nod to it. With particular reference to your issue, we can say that you could have taken advantage of this opening when your children were legal residents of Kuwait and hence applied to have their residences transferred to yours citing the compassionate grounds raised earlier. The reality is that you find yourself in a more difficult position now that the children are no longer residents of Kuwait. All the same, we will advise that you try your luck by booking an appointment with the Director- General and putting your problem before him and who knows luck could smile at you.

    Kindly go through our archives and refrain from sending us repeated questions
    Kindly send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]

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