Legal Clinic

Hi, I would like to know salary details about visit visa. My salary is KD 250 & my husband salary also KD 250. Now I am pregnant, I want to bring my mother, is it possible to me?

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately you will not be able to apply for visit visa for your mother as you need a monthly salary of KD 300 to be able to do so. Your salary and your husband’s total KD 500 per month but unfortunately coupling salaries for the purpose of meeting the amount required for visa application is no longer allowed.

Kindly send your queires to [email protected] or [email protected]

I have a diploma in Electronics. I have been working in Kuwait for the last 4 months in my current company. Is it possible to change my current sales executive visa to an engineer visa, because I got a good offer in an engineering company and my current sponsor has no objection on visa transfer. Your advise is highly appreciated

Name withheld

Answer: If the current company you are working for brought to you Kuwait, we are afraid but you cannot leave them before 3 years service without their agreement.

On the other hand, if they did not bring you to Kuwait you have to work for them for one year as you cannot transfer your visa to another company because you are a diploma holder and under the Labour Law it is only a degree holder who can transfer his/ her work permit at any point in time.

Kindly send your queires to [email protected] or [email protected]

I have started to work in Kuwait since October 2016. At the time of joining the company my salary was KD 350. According my work agreement it has been increased up to KD 425 after my probation time period which is first 3 months. My question is can I apply for just one month family visit visa with this salary? I do not intend to apply for dependent visa. Kindly inform me regarding this Thank you

Name withheld

Answer: Under current regulations in force, you need to have a salary of KD 200 to apply for a visit visa for your immediate family (wife and children). With this information, you can go ahead and apply for the family visit visa as your monthly salary is way above the minimum requirement. You may also note that your immediate family members can stay for a maximum of 3 months if they desire

Me and my husband are working in the same company (5 Star Hotel) with basic salary. My question is can we deliver a baby here in Kuwait and if so for how long will I be able to keep my baby here coz I’m planning to take my baby back to my own country.

Name withheld

Answer: If you and your husband are legally married and can produce a married certificate endorsed by your embassy in Kuwait and the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs Annex in Shuwaikh you will have no problem in delivering a baby in the country. After delivery however you will have sixty days within which to process the recessary papers to get a residence permit for the child or to send the child out of Kuwait as you intend to do.

Hi sir, I have a contract of three years but my Visa is for one year in Kuwait. Now I have resigned after completing 8 months giving them four months notice period but they didn’t accept my resignation they are telling that we are giving you to the police. I don’t want to work with the company. What should I do.

Name withheld

Answer: According to you, you have a three-year contract with the company. If so, you cannot unilaterally abrogate the contract after one year of service. You will therefore be on the wrong side of the law and the company can file an absconding case against you if you stop going to work. In going about this case you have two alternatives, either you see through the full contract years or if you insist on quitting, then you have to compensate the company for the remaining number of years in accordance with the liabilities as spelt out in the contract.

I’m working as a staff nurse. My Kuwait nursing license validity until this September. Now I’m on release from one of a clinic and I started working in another clinic. In my new clinic they told me to do higher and lower verification. While on the processing time my validity finished. Does this mean that I have to write an exam again? Can you clarify my doubt.

Name withheld

Answer: It means you have to verify your certificates and other documents again. Lower verification is in Salmiya (MoE) on the same line with Junior Indian Community School, where as higher verification is in Sharq Sanabil Tower. When you conduct these verifications you will get to know whether to rewrite or not.

Dear sir, I shifted my flat last month, I need to cancel the electricity contract in my name, can we go directly? I was staying in Abbassiya. Is Haris is required to cancel the electricity. Thank you.

Name withheld

Answer: Since the electricity contract is in your name, you can go directly to the MEW office in your area to cancel the contract. You don’t need to be accompanied by the Haris (caretaker).

Please help … I am working in Kuwait and my salary on work permit is KD 375, my wife is here on dependent visa, the authorities rejected application for the dependent visa for my 1-year-old son, Please is there any option to get dependent visa for my son. Please help me.

Name withheld

Answer: The decision currently in force requiring a father to be earning KD 450 or more to be able to sponsor a family member on dependent visa did not come into force retrospectively. As you wife is here with you on dependent visa, we are surprised the visa application for your one-year-old son was rejected. We are therefore advising that you seek audience with a more senior official and put your case before him and if you are lucky the original decision might be reversed on the grounds of wrong interpretation of the law or a compassionate approach taken of the case with the view not to separate the child from the parents.

I was working in a 5 Star hotel for the past 3 years under Visa 18 and now my company is refusing to give me the release, so please suggest me what to do.

Name withheld

Answer: The company is wrong in refusing to give you a release after working with them for three years. We assume that you have given them the three month mandatory notice period. If your assumption is right then you can file a complaint with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour through the Labour Department in your area. We are convinced if this is done, the ministry will compel your company to grant you the release or they will grant you the release themselves.

I would like to ask a question. My residency was renewed on the Dec 4, 2016 for a period of 2 years expiring on Dec 3, 2018. My basic salary at the point of renewal was KD 425. My allowances were KD 75. Also, I had approximately KD 150 as overtime. So, my basic salary was still KD 425, but overall, it accumulated upto KD 650 with allowances and overtime. I received a raise of KD 100 in December end; that is my basic salary became KD 525; allowances remained KD 75 and overtime of KD 150. So, my basic salary was increased to KD 525, and overall accumulates to KD 750.

My izn-e-amal (work or salary certificate), however, reflects KD 425; since at the time of issue, that was my basic salary. Now, I need to apply for a family visa for my wife as a dependent. I’m not sure what the basic salary requirement is now. Please note that I’ve been employed as a civil engineer (my residency states that civil engineer) by one of the contracting companies in Kuwait since Feb 2011. I wanted to ask you what are my options for applying for family visa:

1. Renew my residency again in order to get a new izn-e-amal. This is not the easiest option as there are levels of complication in my company. Possible, but still very difficult.

2. I have a certificate from my company stating that my basic salary is KD 525; as I needed it for a bank document.

I can ask my company to issue another certificate or letter on the company letterhead stating my basic salary is KD 525. I can also get a bank statement showing my salary is KD 600 (salary+allowance, overtime comes in another transaction) as reflected on my salary account. Please advise. It would be of a great help. I have read in one of the articles that, in the case of engineers, the salary requirement is not mandatory on top of that.

Name withheld

Answer: To apply for a family visa you must be earning a monthly salary of KD 450 or more. This monthly salary must be requirement in your work permit (izn-e-amal). In processing a visa application the Immigration Department only deals with the monthly salary written in your work permit. What other amount transferred into your salary account at the end of the month is of no use to the Immigration Department especially if it is different from what is on your work permit. We must point out that the salary cap of KD 450 that qualified a worker to sponsor members of his family is across board and even if there are some exemptions to the best of our knowledge engineers are not part of such exemptions. In a nutshell, you cannot apply for a dependent visa for your wife using the KD 425 monthly salary on your work permit. The only option that you have is to make that your new basic salary of KD 525 is reflected in your work permit when your residence permit is due for renewal in 2018.