Legal Clinic

I am a regular reader of the Legal Clinic. I want to know the answer to the following questions:

1. Where are the bachelor areas located in Kuwait?

2. Can a bachelor have shared accommodation with another bachelor or a bachelor can share accommodation with a family in a family building?

Name withheld

Answer: It is strange that everyone, both officials and expatriates, talk about bachelor areas and yet there is no definite line which separates the family areas from the bachelor areas (for expatriates).

The only definite thing about the whole issue is that bachelors are not allowed to reside in Kuwaiti areas. And for the rest of the country you will find whole buildings with bachelors next to buildings with families.

The only other thing about bachelors is that they can’t reside in buildings with families. There are a lot of buildings which have both families and bachelors but the latter are only there as long as the families don’t object. If even one of the families complains the bachelors will have no choice but to vacate their flats or they could be forcibly evicted by the Municipality.

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

I just want to ask for help for the visa for my baby born in Kuwait. I want to get a visa for him but our salary cannot reach the salary bracket. What should I do? Is there any possibility or any hope for me to get a visa for my baby? Can you please help me because last month we filed for a visa but the Immigration Department rejected our application because our salary is less than KD 250. I have read articles there is no salary bracket if the child is born in Kuwait … is this true?

Name withheld

Answer: There was no salary bracket until very recently when the Interior Ministry announced a KD 450 salary cap for this purpose. The ministry has now also said that the salaries of both the parents can’t be clubbed to meet the salary cap. The only thing that you can do now is request the Director General of Immigration to waive the salary cap for you. He has been delegated the authority to do so, but remember it is totally his discretion to reject or accept an application without assigning any reason.

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

My sister has been working with a company for the last 3 years and had entered the country on a factory visa. She has now finished her contract and would like to transfer her visa to a private company but with the same sponsor. Please advise if it would be possible.

Name withheld

Answer: According to the latest law on the issue — although there remains a lot of ambiguity — if you are on a factory visa you can transfer to the main file of the same sponsor on payment of a KD 350 fee. And from this “main file” you can transfer — technically — to any other private sector company without any problems after spending a year on this file.

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

Thank you for all legal advice that you have been providing to the Arab Times readers. I would like to know whether an expat in Kuwait can adopt a child of another expat of the same nationality, or an abandoned child under Kuwait law. If yes, what are the steps to be followed?

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately, adoption of children is not allowed in Kuwait. This can’t be done by even the Kuwaitis, who can take on children as foster parents but not as parents (not give them their name). They also are not part of any inheritance.

Please also remember that abandoned children are “adopted by the state”. The best way, which is being followed by expatriates, is to adopt children in your own country and then bring them to Kuwait as “your children”. There will be no objection, by Kuwait authorities, if you follow this route.

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

I am an expatriate Indian living in Kuwait for the past 12 years. Due to some unfortunate incidents in my life I was forced to borrow KD 1,200 from someone by signing an I.O.U in 2013 and from that day onwards I have been paying KD 110 as interest every month until the beginning of this year through ATM and by cash in hand.

Now my situation is bad and I am unable to pay the interest. Now he is threatening that he needs KD 4,000, otherwise he will file a case. I am really suffering a lot with his phone calls every day. I told him I will pay his money but I need some time… but the payment will not be KD 4,000, only KD 1,500.

Please what to do if he files a case … I am worried.

Name withheld
Answer: Please remember that these loan sharks are illegal in Kuwait but yet they are plying a flourishing trade because of people like you who won’t take a stand. And once the ‘victims” get deep into the situation they end up not only being blackmailed into paying much more than they borrowed, they are also unable to pay the original amount.

Now these people make you sign an I.O.U. and also take your bank ATM card. Every month they draw the interest and give the rest of the amount to you. But then a time comes when they get more greedy and the result is before you.

Some of these loan sharks also keep the victims passports so that they don’t leave the country as there have been many who have done so.

The best way out of the whole situation is file a case against these loan sharks at a police station. They will have to produce the I.O.U. that you signed. Now unless a larger amount has been filled in, you can’t be asked to pay more than you borrowed.

Legally these people can’t even charge you interest…in fact they don’t even admit they are doing so. They only say that you have borrowed money from you. And you are not returning it. But all the police has to do is check the cameras of banks on the dates the ATM was used to withdraw the money and they will find that it was not you who was withdrawing the money.

They are some clever loan sharks who just accompany you to the bank and don’t approach the ATMs but then these people can be placed by the cameras outside the banks.

If you can get witnesses who can testify that these people loan money or that you have been paying them interest, you will have a case but then you have to be very careful because some of them are tied in to some “influential people”… but it is all up to you if you want to take a stand.

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]

Sir my salary is KD 300. Can I bring my wife who is in India?

Name withheld

Answer: Yes you can get your wife only on Visit Visa and not on dependent visa as law clearly states that for dependent visa your salary should be KD 450 per month

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]

I really need immediate advice. I have been working in a fast food restaurant (private sector) for 6 months. I was hired through an agency in my country.

My problems are as follows.

1. When I arrived in Kuwait I signed contract with the company stating my position as assistant manager and a salary of KD 200 with free accommodation, duty meal, and transportation. My problem is that during my fifth month my operation manager evaluated me, on my training, in the store. Based on his evaluation I am not capable of my position as assistant manager and his verdict demoted me from assistant manager to supervisor. Not only that, my salary now from KD 200 will be KD 170.

Actually he gave me two choices either KD 150 plus free accommodation or KD 170 and live out (living outside company accommodation).

Can I ask for a release or transfer to other company?

I am really disappointed. I’ve been working in the fast food industry before as an assistant manager and how come I’m not qualified. It seems that my rights are being violated. What would be the best solution?. I’m afraid that if I go to the Labor Office maybe I could be sent home.

I really need your legal advice.

Name withheld
Answer: You can’t take a release because you were hired from abroad and can get a release only after three years. You can only go to the Labor Office because the Kuwait Labor Law clearly says that the salary can’t be decreased under any circumstances but then, as you also said, you run the risk of being fired from your job and sent home.

It is totally up to you. If you can prove that your rights have been violated, only then can the company be sanctioned and you given a release.

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]

I am an Indian living in Kuwait with my wife and son. My wife is a teacher working in a school. My son is on my dependent residence (Article 22) and my wife is on the school’s residence (Article18). We got married in India in 2000. Now we have decided to live separately.

Currently, we are living together but with mutual understanding, we are planning to live separately after completing all the divorce formalities. Her name is not on my passport. I have our marriage certificate attested by India.

Could you please tell me what are the procedures I need to follow to get a divorce

Name withheld
Answer: We can’t give you an accurate answer until both of you tell us which religion you belong to because there is a different procedure for each. For example, if you are Muslims we need to know whether you are Sunnis or Shias.

Or one of you could be a Muslim and the other a non- Muslim. Or both of you could be Christians, etc. So, please furnish the details and we will detail the procedure for you.

If you are in a hurry and can’t wait for the answer, please contact your embassy and check with them. Some of the embassies also allow the divorce proceedings to be filed with them.

First of all let me thank you for the free legal guidance that you are providing to the expat community.

I would like to know what the current Kuwait Labor Law states regarding accumulating Annual leaves. As my family is here in Kuwait, I did not go on Annual leave for the past 2 years.

I am an Accountant and have been with my current employer for the past 4 years and my total annual leaves now stand at 58 days. Is there a limit on maximum Annual leaves that employees can accumulate? If yes, please suggest a solution.

Name withheld
Answer: Before we answer your question, we need to have a look at all the articles of the Kuwait Labor Law on the question of leave.

These articles are reproduced below:

Article 70: The worker shall be entitled to a 30-day paid annual leave. However, the worker shall not be entitled to a leave for the first year of work except after at least 9 months of service for the employer. Official holidays and sick leaves during the year shall not be counted as annual leave. The worker shall be entitled to a leave for fractions of the year in proportion with the period he spent in actual service, even the first year of service.

Article 71: The worker shall be paid for his annual leave before taking such leave.

Article 72: The employer shall have the right to determine the date of the annual leave and divide such leave after the first 14 days thereof, with the consent of the worker. The worker shall have the right to accumulate his leave entitlements provided these do not exceed two years and he shall be entitled to take his leave at once subject to approval of the employer. The annual leave CAN be accumulated for more than two years with the consent of both the parties.

Article 73: Without prejudice to provisions of Articles 70 and 71, the worker shall be entitled to a cash consideration for ALL his accumulated leaves upon the expiry of his contract.

Article 74: Without affecting provisions of Article 72, the worker shall not waive his annual leave with or without compensation. You and your employers have to read all the above articles to fully understand their implication.

We will now try to ensure the practical implication of the above relevant laws as follows: The company is wrong when it says you cannot accumulate leave. Yes, you can — even without the company’s blessings — for a maximum of two years BUT you can only avail this accumulated leave with the permission of the employer.

IF the employer permits, you can accumulate leave for over two years and avail it whenever he permits. But in case you can’t avail it, you don’t forfeit it — no company can make you do so and although you are unable to use it, such leave gets accumulated.

But to encash such a leave you have to wait until the end of your service at which point the company has no choice but to pay you for all the leave that you have accumulated.

Article 74 very clearly mentions that you can’t waive this right. So, even if the company makes you sign forfeiture of leave, it is wrong.

The law simply does not even give the employee the right to waive the leave so how can the employer order its forfeiture. If any employer does so, you should file a complaint in a court of law and if your complaint is rejected you can take the company to court if you want. Simply put, the company has to pay you for every day of annual leave that you have in balance.

I want to know if I will be able to get a paid maternity leave since our HR told me that I need to be one year working in the company to get the benefit of 70 days paid maternity leave.

Name withheld

Answer: Article 24 clearly states that a pregnant working woman shall be entitled to a paid maternity leave of 70 days, not included in her other leaves, provided that she gives birth within this period.

After the end of the maternity leave, the employer may give the working woman, at her request, an unpaid leave for a period not exceeding four months to take care of the baby.

The employer may not terminate the services of a working woman while she is on such leave or during her absence from work because of a sickness that is proved by a medical certificate that states that the sickness resulted from pregnancy or giving birth.

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]