Legal Clinic

My monthly salary is KD 345 and have my family over here before the law changed for dependency, would like to have your assistance on the residency of my second child as there is a law for minimum salary for KD 450, need your kind advice for the same, will I face any issue for the residency for my child as my salary is below the minimum salary cap.

Name withheld

Answer: Since your wife and one child are already here with you on dependent visa, you will have no problem in securing a residency permit for your second child.

In fact when the law on the KD 450 minimum requirement for family visa sponsorship was passed it did not have retrospective effect.

Having said this, we must however point out that the decision to accept or reject a visa request is strictly in the hands of the officers at the Immigration Department. This not withstanding you can always ask to see a higher-level official if you believe you are treated unfairly by a lower-level official.

I just want to know if I can apply for family visa for my wife. My salary is KD 445 on work permit.

Name withheld

Answer: No, you can’t because the law says that to be able to sponsor members of your family on dependent visa, you should be earning at least a monthly salary of KD 450

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I have my visa Article 18 company driver visa and I have university degree also. Now I have completed 1 year from my present company and now I have good offer from another company. But the new company wants to change my designation to a sales executive. My old company is ready to give me a release. So if my old company gives me release, can I transfer my visa to another company and also change my title from driver to sales executive?

Name withheld

Answer: If your present company is willing to give your a release and you are also ready to change your present designation of ‘driver’ to a new designation ‘sales executive’ you will have no problem in transferring your residency to the company. You must however note that you will lose your driving licence if you have one with the change in designation.

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Need your urgent help on Visa cancellation process. I have got job in Dubai and want to leave Kuwait. Can you please help me with following queries:

1. How long extension do they give after visa cancellation.

2. After cancellation, can I exit the country and leave my family here for sometime till the Visa No. 14 is valid?.

Name withheld

Answer: After going through the procedures and cancelling your residence permit, you are given one month temporary visa 14 to wind up their activities and leave the country. When you cancel your residence you have to make sure that the residencies of your family members who are under your sponsorship are also cancelled.

When this is done they will equally be given one month temporary visas to wind up and leave the country. Under this scenario you can exit the country and leave your family behind for the duration of their visa 14 validity.

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I like to know what is the minimum salary required to combine both husband and wife salary and eligible for dependent visa for child. Can you explain the requirements in detail?

Name withheld

Answer: In days gone by, husband and wife could combine their salaries to meet the minimum salary required to be eligible to sponsor a family member or members on dependent visas. That arrangement has since been rescinded. The law in force now talks only of the husband’s monthly salary which should be KD 450 or more.

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I need to bring my wife and son on visit visa. If I extend the visa one more month when they leave Kuwait, how long does it take to apply for a second visit visa for my wife and son.

Name withheld

Answer: When your wife and son come to Kuwait on a visit and return home, you will have to wait for at least six months before you can apply again for them to visit Kuwait.

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Hi! I’m a 20-year-old guy on a temporary visa. My dependent visa expired about two months ago and this is my second extension and this expires in a month and half. Recently I’ve had a dispute with my parents about working. I insisted that I won’t work with my father anymore, who is a mechanic. So now my dad won’t help me find a sponsor or a job. And I have no ideas about how to get a work permit or the whole process.

So can you give me a brief description on transferring dependent residence visa to work residence visa? And what are the documents I’d need? And my last concern is: from what I could gather from the articles I’ve read online, I’d be through a probation period which is about 3 months if I found a job. But my visa expires in a month and a half. What’d happen after that? Please help clear things for me. Thank you for all your efforts and consideration. You’re doing a great job spreading information to people like us.

Name withheld

Answer: Visa 14, also referred to as temporary visa is issued to a recipient to prevent him or her being classified as an illegal resident as processes are ongoing to renew his or her residence permit.

In your case you are seeking to transfer your dependent visa to a work visa but as you explained your father who is your sponsor is not cooperating with you on that score.

With this development we are sorry to say that you cannot on your own do anything on your own except with explicit cooperation with your dad. Even if you succeed to get a job on your own, your father has to give a release as your sponsor before you can take up the new job.

Our advise to you is that settle your differences with your father, let him renew your dependent visa and with his blessing you can look for a job and when you land one, he will then give you a release to take up that job. Please note that you have no option on this issue and if you remain recalcitrant you will soon find yourself staying in Kuwait as an illegal resident and when you are caught you will be deported.

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Ban on recruitment of expats below 30 years of age for degree holders. Kindly clarify the rule will affect existing engineers in Kuwait.

Name withheld

Answer: That proposal has since been shelved with the explanation that more study is needed to determine whether it will be resurrected or completely abandoned. When the proposal was announced it was made abundantly clear that they were referring to future recruitments abroad and not those already recruited and working in Kuwait.

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I am working in Kuwait from 2011 and currently my salary is KD 800. My designation on my work permit is Masool. Am I eligible to get a driving licence and where I can apply for the same? What all documents are required to apply? Please advise.

Name withheld

Answer: To be eligible to apply for a driving licence in Kuwait you have to meet the conditions below:

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 applying for the licence.

From the information you provided us it is clear you satisfy the 2nd and 3rd conditions but we are not in a position to know if you are a university graduate or not. If you are, then go ahead and apply for your driving licence but if you are not a graduate then we are afraid you will not qualify to apply for the same.

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I changed jobs recently and when the new company was trying to transfer my visa the mandoub informed me that it is not possible as I am on a factory visa.

Please note that I entered the country on a factory visa in January 2016 as of now my visa is valid till Feb 2019.

Is it possible for me to transfer to a company visa upon payment of KD 300 at MoSAL? If yes, what are the conditions? If no, the next best option is cancelling the current factory visa I am on and return on a new visa. Now do I have to wait for a year before my company applies for a new visa? Or can they apply for a visa as soon as I exit the country after completing all the visa cancellation procedures? Could you please check and let me know?

Name withheld

Answer: Under current regulations, you can only transfer your visa to another factory visa with a different sponsor. To the best of our knowledge we are not aware of any payment of KD 300 at MoSAL to be able to transfer to a company visa. We know of such payments being made with regard to project visas and even here such payments are not made for transfer to company visa but within the different categories of project visas.

With regard to the other option of cancelling your current visa, exiting Kuwait and returning on a new visa, that can be done immediately after exiting Kuwait and there won’t be any need to wait for one year before putting in an application.

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Insulting, offending or mocking other people are acts that do not go unpunished. The Criminal Law fights against people who degrade others verbally or in written form, especially those who think that the law will not be applied on them as they are merely “expressing their opinions freely;” while their “expression” is considered offensive — an act punishable by law.

The Criminal Law takes one step further by protecting people’s dignity, integrity and reputation to ensure that the legal system is secured and unflawed. Unfortunately, people insult others through a new way that they think could help them get away with what they do. When they insult someone, they try not to curse nor use insulting or disparaging terms to avoid being accused of “insulting in public.” These acts have become widespread, especially on social media platforms.

If you look at the comments in the social networking account of a famous person, you will notice a lot of people trying to put him down by uttering cruel and disrespectful words. Once this person tries to sue them; he takes a step back, thinking the plan is useless because there are no insulting terms but the comments are still offensive.

For example, a chef is presenting a recipe, then somebody comments: “I don’t think you’re doing it right … you’re not Spanish, you cannot do paella. It doesn’t look good and your previous videos show how horrible is your cooking. There are more important things to do in life than cooking … It’s a waste of time … I’m just expressing my point of view and I advice you to quit trying.” Just perfect! A crime was committed even if the person who wrote the comment tried to act smart by not typing any insulting word. Still, the whole comment contained hateful and disrespectful messages which offended the chef. He can definitely sue the one who wrote the comment.

Such people misunderstood the Constitution by thinking that freedom of expression includes hurting others by uttering certain words and claiming that it is “respectful” point of view. This is a misunderstanding because neither the Constitution nor laws allow violating the rights of others. Your freedom stops where the rights of others begins

By Atyab Alshatti, Esq.
Email: lawyeratyabalshatti@gmail. com