Legal Clinic

Hi there I am a bit confused of your advices to some people in regards of transferring their wives’ residence. I am attaching a copy of those answers which I have taken from the web. Kindly advise. My wife is currently staying in Kuwait on her dad’s residence. Now she is pregnant and I want to transfer her residence to my sponsorship … is it possible with a KD 300 salary on the work permit. Also what about my baby’s residence after the birth.

Answer: You should know that women are not allowed to be sponsored by their fathers as dependents once they are married. They can only be sponsored by their husbands. But now it is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to sponsor your wife or your child because you don’t meet the salary condition of earning at least KD 450 a month.

This was reply to our mail: The concerned minister, while announcing the KD 450 salary cap, clearly said that the decision would not affect those expatriates who were already in the country before the decision was announced nor would it affect those expatriates whose residencies are to be renewed.

Name withheld

Answer: There is no contradiction in the two answers given. The minister’s clarification that the decision would not affect those expatriates who were already in the country before the decision was announced, was not a blanket inclusion of all expats who were in Kuwait at that time, but only referred to those who had already sponsored their families on salaries that were below the new cap.

In your case, I presume you were in Kuwait before the new rule came into effect, but because you did not take the advantage to transfer your wife’s iqama to yours when the salary cap was below KD 450 per month, it is now ‘going to be very difficult, if not impossible, to sponsor your wife or your child because you don’t meet the salary condition as we earlier pointed out. Indeed your wife’s continuous sponsorship by her father is not permitted by Kuwait law.

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

First of all, thank you very much for your good legal advice. My current company has terminated me. My salary is KD 300. I have completed service 8 years and 9 months service. I have 75 days service left, including the notice period. I also have 21 days unpaid leave. How much indemnity will I get from my company.

Name withheld

Answer: Your indemnity will be calculated as follows :

Salary: KD 300 Service: 8.75 years You get 15 days pay for each of the first five years = 75 days but these days are first divided by 26 (working days in a month) = 2.88 months pay After that you get one month’s pay for each year of service = 3.75 months pay.

Total indemnity = 2.88 + 3.75 = 6.63 months pay = 6.63 x KD 300 = KD 1,989 As your services have been terminated you will get the full above amount in spite of the fact that you have not completed 10 years service

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

I have already mailed my question but it didn’t get published. Now I want to make sure that my mail reaches you. My question may already be in the pipeline as you may be receiving many questions.

Still I want to make sure my query is in right hands. I have to submit my leave application at the earliest in this connection I will repeat my question again.

First of thanks for your valuable advice. I want to go on vacation … my working days are Sunday to Thursday.

I want to take vacations from Dec 30, 2016 to Jan 28, 2017. I will fill my leave application with the leave starting from Jan 2 to Jan 26 (Dec 30, 31 are week holidays and Jan 1 is a public holiday and Jan 27 and 28 are week holidays. I plan to return work on Jan 29, 2017).

1. I want to know how many holidays will be deducted from my annual leave.

2. My salary is KD 500, and I want to know what will be my leave salary and monthly salaries of December and January.

Name withheld

Answer: Please remember that your query is ALWAYS in the right hands provided it reaches us as we ensure that we reply every question sent by our readers.

Secondly, coming to your question, regardless of the fact that you get two days off every week, only one day is counted as the weekly off because the other off day’s work is spread over the other five days.

The Kuwait Labor Law also only grants you one day off per week. If you want to save one day, you should apply for leave from Jan 2, 2017 and leave the country (with your office’s permission) on the evening of Dec 29, 2016. In most good companies you even don’t need such a permission.

Then you should end your leave on Jan 26 (total 25 days) and join the office on Jan 29 morning. In such a case you will have a deduction of only 21 days (because four week days fall in between) from your annual leave balance.

This is the correct way to do so, according to the Kuwait Labor Law although a lot of companies have wrongly interpreted the law to suit themselves.

Your leave salary will be KD 500 / 26 x 21 = KD 403.850 (for the 21 days) You will get your full month’s salary (KD 500) for Dec but only 5 days pay for Jan = KD 500 /31 x 5 = KD 80.650

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

I was on engineering visa for a previous company. I have changed my company while my designation on the work permit has been changed to foreman. My license is expiring in December 2016. When I went for renewal of the license, they said that a license had not been issued for my Civil ID. When I went to Ministry of Information website, the license was still valid. Can I renew my license? My salary is above KD 600 and I possess a degree certificate.

Name withheld

Answer: Your change in designation should not affect the renewal of your license “unless you were earlier given exemption (as an engineer) because you did not meet the requirements for a driving license.

You should visit the Kuwait Traffic Department again and clear the situation because we see no hurdle in the renewal of your driving license. You have to remember that in case your license is withdrawn, you will have to wait two years until you can reapply for the same.

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

I’m new to Kuwait and was working in the private sector until recently. During my probation period, the company decided to cut expenses and terminated me with a release. I found another sponsor and got a transfer paper signed from my old sponsor and also the new sponsor. On the application for work permit transfer (as per law as far as I knew I should pay a fine as I’m still in the first year) today a Labor Department official told my new sponsor’s representative that there’s a new rule according to which is no transfer of work permit is allowed except after 6 months. I’m shocked. I don’t know if that is true and if so, what can I do. Please help me if you can. What can I do?

Name withheld

Answer: Ordinarily an expatriate must wait for three years, after arriving in the country for the first time, before he can transfer to another sponsor. Expatriate with university degrees can, however, transfer within a few months provided they get a release from their sponsor but this is subject to approval of the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor, which may or may not accept the application because approval of such a transfer is totally at the discretion of the ministry.

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

I am staying in a 1-bedroom, hall, kitchen flat and the contract will expire on June 30, 2017. Please advise what maximum rent can be increased as I am paying rent KD 180 and other people renewed their contract at KD 260; if the landlord increases the rent from KD 180 to KD 260 can I approach the Rental Court against the increase?

Name withheld

Answer: You can only approach the court if the landlord increases the rent before the expiry of the current contract which runs up to June 30, 2017.

However, after the expiry of the contract, if the landlord demands KD 260 in the new contract, it is left to you to sign it and continue living in the accommodation, or reject the new contract and look for accommodation somewhere else.

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

I am a regular reader of the Arab Times newspaper. Recently I came across an article published in the newspaper stating that all those who hold driving licenses issued after 2014 are necessarily required to renew their licenses irrespective of the validity and expiry date. However when I cross checked with known sources they said that the directive is for those holding licenses issued before 2014 and those who have shifted their jobs on which the original license had been issued. Would be helpful if you could please provide the clarification on the same. Incidentally I hold a driving license issued in 2015 and is valid until August 2017.

Name withheld

Answer: Under the current law which came into effect on April 1, 2013, the validity of all driving licenses issued after this date are tied to the validity of recipient’s residence. However all licences issued before April 1, 2013 would be renewed automatically when residences are renewed. In a similar vein the designation change which affects driver, housewife, mandoub and student applies to licenses that have been issued after April 1, 2013. As of licenses issued before the said date, the law is not applicable

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

I am living and working in Kuwait and would like you to clarify about Kuwait work visa for Pakistanis, because I was going through your Legal Clinic questions and their answers. What I have come to know is that Kuwait Visas (any type) for Pakistan are not banned but there are ‘restrictions’ and the application needs to go through the process of MoI approval.

Kindly let me know the current status about work visa for Pakistani nationals and the procedure for obtaining the same.

Name withheld

Answer: In a nutshell, the status quo remains with regard to the issuance of visas to Pakistani nationals. The mantra has been and remains: ‘No ban but some restrictions on the issuance of visas to Pakistanis’. These restrictions include getting security clearance from Kuwait’s security authorities which in most cases is not granted. Being a Pakistani national is therefore a huge stumbling block is acquiring any type of visa to Kuwait be it for work, visit or dependent.

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

I am working as an engineer in one of the companies in Kuwait. I am planning to bring my wife to Kuwait. Could you tell me the procedure to apply for the family visa? And what is the eligibility criteria to apply for family visa? My salary is KD 250. How much time does it take to get family visa?

Name withheld

Answer: To qualify for a family visa, the sponsor has to earn a salary of KD 450 or above. You can therefore not bring in your wife on family visa as you are earning below the salary cap of KD 450.

I am working as senior accountant for the last couple of years on visa 18 transferable and recently went for an interview and everything went OK. But during the final round, the HR told me they have a company policy where they have put a clause in the job agreement that once the probation period is over (3 months), the employee needs to serve the company for a minimum of two years, if I put in my resignation in between this period, I would need to pay a penalty of KD 2,500.

They said the reason for this clause is they are training their employees and so this done for employee retention. The company provides IT support to various local companies, but the work which I will need to do relates to the finance department and no training is required in this case. I have asked around and got mixed response, some telling yes, they can put such a clause and others vice versa. Please advice.

Name withheld

Answer: The company has the right to put in the clause in the job contract (If it is fixed-term). It is left to you to append your signature to it or reject it and both parties go their separate ways and hence no future litigation.

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