Legal Clinic

  • Renewal of residence for dependents ( Salary below 450)

    I am looking for some advice regarding the residence renewal. My husband is on 18 visa with KD 250 salary cap and he is the sponsor of my son. Now my husband got another job offer from another company where the salary scale is KD 250. My query is, if he changes his job, while renewing my son’s civil ID next year in January 2017, will I face any problems or the same exemption clause is applicable. Kindly advise.

    Name withheld

    Answer: Your husband will have no problem when you go to renew your son’s residence as while announcing the KD 450 salary cap. The minister 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.

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

  • Husbands visa cancelled – Daughter is still having valid residence

    My husband’s visa was cancelled on Aug 18, 2016 and my daughter sponsorship is to my husband’s residence as a dependent. Now my daughter is in our native country. We are planning to bring out daughter to Kuwait. I checked the MoI (Ministry of Interior) online service that showed my daughter’s visa is valid up to May 2017. Is it possible for her travel to Kuwait.

    Name withheld

    Answer: According to the law, the residence of the dependents should be automatically cancelled once the residence of the sponsor is cancelled but sometimes this fact is ignored by the Immigration Department and the affected expatriates continue to travel for years without any problems. So, the decision is yours. You are the ones who have the risk. Your daughter may have no problems … but then could also be turned back by the Kuwait Immigration.

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

  • Queries on transfer of Project visa

    Firstly I would like to express my gratitude to the Legal Clinic staff of the Arab Times newspaper for the genuine answers provided on most labor related issues experienced by the expatriate community here in Kuwait.

    You have been a great help in resolving a lot of the issues/ queries of the expat community.

    I am a Mechanical Engineer, and have recently (2016) joined a trading company. Its only been 2 months, but the transfer of visa was ongoing (As per company HR). So now they have come back to me saying that I have 2 options:

    1. Transfer of residence to another project visa by paying KD 300, or

    2. The company will be sending me out of country (i.e. to my home country) and bringing me back on their visa. The problem is that I have children and a maid dependent on my residence. And if I leave the country,

    a) What will happen to their residence status?

    b) How can I resolve that?

    c) Will my driving license be affected?

    d) If I come back on a new visa, will I be subject to the same conditions as coming to Kuwait for the first time? (like staying in company for 3 years?) I came to Kuwait in 2009 on a project visa and have been employed by the same company since.

    Kindly advise.

    Name withheld

    Answer: What the company has advised you is correct. You can transfer to another project visa on a payment of KD 300 or your company can get you a new visa but you will have to leave the country and return on the new document.

    Now, if you were to do a local transfer to another project there would be no problems with the residence of your dependents nor of the maid but if you were to leave the country after the cancellation of your residence there could be a multitude of problems.

    The foremost of these problems would be the cancellation of the dependents residence — on the cancellation of your residence — plus the residence of the maid.

    There is a way out of this problem: if the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor okays your new work permit before you leave the country.

    In this case you will have to present the work permit to the Immigration Department with the undertaking that you are returning to the country almost immediately.

    In such a case it is possible that your request MAY be accepted because this is totally at the discretion of the Immigration Department. In case your request is accepted you will be given a certain time frame to return to the country … and the residencies of your dependents along with that of your maid will not be cancelled. But once you leave the country, after the cancellation of your residence, you will also face some other serious consequences.

    1. Your driving license will be cancelled and you will have to apply again when you return. There is a possibility of you being asked to wait two years before you can submit the application besides having to fulfil all the new conditions for a drivers license.

    2. Most importantly, you will be asked to fulfil all residence requirements, just like you came the first time: you have to undergo the medical exam plus fulfil all the residence requirements within 60 days of landing in the country.

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

  • Encashment of unused leave balance

    I have unused leave balance and am entitled to leave encashment on my resignation from the company. What would be the salary that I will be getting for my unused leave on resignation?

    Would this be the basic only or last drawn salary including accommodation and travel allowances?

    Please provide relevant law reference for the above.

    Name withheld

    Answer: Article 62 of the Kuwait Labor Law states that “The calculation of the worker’s entitlements shall be made on the basis of the latest remuneration received by the worker”.

    The word used here is “remuneration” and not basic salary. And “remuneration”, according to the second paragraph of Article 55 of the Kuwait Labor Law, includes all “the payments made to the worker on regular basis including allowances etc…”.

    So, the calculation of the payment for your unused annual leave should be based on “remuneration” as defined by us above.

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

  • No parking facilities provided by building owners

    I am staying in Abbasia. Here none of the building owners provide parking facilities. After the Municipality completes the checking they construct rooms on the ground floor with the basements rented out for commercial purposes.

    Everyone has to park their cars either on the foot-path or the road side. As per the new rule, the police can remove the number plates any time. Is there any rule in Kuwait that the building owners must provide proper parking facility the tenants?

    Name withheld

    Answer: Yes, the building laws clearly state that each building must have parking space for the tenants but unfortunately “wasta” and some other elements have played a bid role in the Municipality okaying these buildings … and now nothing can be done about the issue.

    Even if you wish to complain, who will you go to because the people who are supposed to receive these complaints are the same ones who “ignored” the violations in the first place and gave a “clearance certificate” to the landlords.

    Go and check out a building when it is under construction and then revisit the place after the construction is over. You will see rooms which had been large earlier have now been sub-divided to “increase” the number of rooms in the flat.

    What happens is that one flat is prepared for inspection by the relevant department and when it has been okayed the others take on a different look. The worst thing is that everyone knows this is happening but does nothing about it.

     

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

  • Working hours after Maternity Leave

    How many hours should I work after maternity leave (my normal duty is 8 hours + 1 hour break = 9 hours)

    I’m a working woman and my baby is 3 months old. I just want a clarification on a Kuwait law. — Article 25 — according to which “a working woman shall be allowed a two-hour break during her working hours in order to feed her baby”.

    My working hours are 8 + 1 hour break, total 9 hours. So I should minus 2 hours from working hours and work 6 + 1 hour break = 7 hours or I should minus 1 hour from working hour and work 7+1 hour break = 8 hours.

    Name withheld

    Answer: The office timings for you will remain unchanged and will be the same as all the other employees.

    It is during these working hours that you are entitled 2 hours to feed your baby.

    So if, for example, your company has a 0900 to 1800 hours schedule (including the one hour break) you are required to follow the same hours but you can take two hours off in between at some point — to be mutually decided with your company — to feed the baby.

    But please remember this “facility” is not for an unlimited period. While the duration has not laid down by the law, it is normally for about three months.

    It could be more but that has to be decided with the company.

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

  • Delayed Newborn residence

    First of all, I would like to thank you for the nonstop legal advice. Once I asked you some questions … I followed your advice and my problems were solved. For the second time I need your advice.

    I failed to get residency for my newborn baby in time (60 days). I’m two (2) months late. When I tried to process the residency of my baby at the Immigration Department (Ahmadi) they sent me to the Salmiya Department of General Investigations.

    At that place I answered all the questions asked by a female investigator before affixed all the signatures and stamps required. She then gave me a paper and said I could get residency for my baby. I went straight to the Immigration Department (Ahmadi) and I completed the residency of my baby.

    Now I’m still worried although no one at the Investigation Department & Immigration said there was any case against me.

    Someone told me that if there is a delay of even a day in getting the residence of the child a case is filed against you.

    Now my question how can I know if I have case. And if I discover I have case what are the steps to tackle the issue?

    Name withheld

    Answer: Yes, that is what normally happens but if the Investigation Officer found that you, for some reason, were not at fault and the delay in getting the residence was not intentional then the officer dismisses the case straight away and doesn’t refer it to the prosecutor.

    This happens although it is rarely done. As such no case is registered against you and you get the baby’s residence.

    The fact that you have been given the baby’s residence is proof enough there is no case against you. Had there been any case the Immigration Department would not have stamped the baby’s residence.

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

  • Eligibility for yearly bonus

    I had been terminated by my company. Can you let me know whether I will be eligible for the yearly bonus?

    Name withheld

    Answer: First of all, it depends on the clauses of your contract. But more importantly, normally such bonuses depend on completion of the whole year and still the year is not over.

    Moreover, bonuses are given only when employers are satisfied with the work of their employees but apparently your employers are not, otherwise they would not have terminated your services.

    So, in all probability (unless your contract says otherwise) you will not get the bonus and there is nothing you can do about it.

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

  • Dependent visa for new born for Parents who don’t meet salary requirement & exempted

    Q1. I am here in Kuwait on a dependent visa. Now I am 8 months pregnant. My husband’s salary is below 450 KD. I heard there is new law for dependent visas with the minimum KD 450. Will be possible to get residency for my new born baby in Kuwait. Please clarify.

    Q2. I want to know about the new rule on residence for new born babies. My husband has a KD 300 salary. Will there be any problems in this case to get residence for my baby. My salary is more than KD 500 and I am working in MoH as a staff nurse. Is it possible to getting residence for my baby as my dependent. My colleague is also facing a similar situation. Please gives me a favorable reply

    Q3: We are expecting a new born baby in the coming months with the delivery planned in Kuwait. My basic salary is KD 425 and my wife is not working. Can I get a visa for my new born baby?

    Name withheld
    Answer: As all the three answers are on the same subject, we are clubbing all of them so we can provide a detailed answer not only to their question but the whole issue. Before we go on and deal specifically with the above questions we would like to clarify that 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. But some explanations were not made which have left a lot of doubts in the minds of expatriates.

    The relevant ministry has clarified that the cases of expatriates who are already in Kuwait or who were born in the country and make less than KD 450 a month will be reviewed by the director general of the Immigration Department to see whether they can be exempted from the minimum salary requirement.

    This will be done on a case by case basis. But in spite of the above clarifications doubts remain about children born (both in and out of Kuwait) to parents who are either already on dependent visas or who are both working in the country.

    While there have been no clear instructions on the subject, the previous law which said that the salary cap for parents already in Kuwait will not been considered has not been cancelled.

    This means that parents already in Kuwait (either on dependent visas or work permits) and not meeting the salary condition will not face problems getting residence for their newborns … but permission will have to be obtained from the Director General of Immigration.

    The minister’s also exempted 14 categories from the KD 450 minimum salary condition as follows: Advisors, judges, public prosecution staff, legal experts and researchers in the public sector; doctors and pharmacists; professors at universities, colleges and higher institutes; public school principals and vice-principals, education supervisors, teachers, social advisors and laboratory assistants in the public sector; academic, financial and economic consultants; engineers; imams, preachers, muezzins and Quran teachers; librarians in government establishments and private universities; health ministry staff including nurses, paramedics, technicians and social service workers; social workers and psychologists in the public sector; journalists, media staff and reporters; coaches and players affiliated with sports associations and clubs; pilots and flight attendants; and washers and buriers of dead bodies.

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

  • Salary on work permit is creating issue for dependent visa

    I’m working in a company as a structural supervisor in Kuwait from April 14, 2016. As per my contract (1 year) my monthly salary is KD 515 (10 hours) but on my work permit it has been mentioned as only KD 351 (8 hours).

    Due to this salary difference on my work permit I’m facing a problem in applying for dependent visas for my wife & children.

    As you are aware the officials recently revised the salary limit from KD 250 to KD 450 for the dependent visa.

    Is it possible to change my salary on the work permit? When can it change… during my contract renewal (after 1 year) or in between or after some time period?

    Name withheld

    Answer: Unfortunately you can only change the salary mentioned on your work permit when you are either transferring the residence or renewing it. Although there is no law which says you can’t make the changes before that, the officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labor don’t allow these changes. So, in your case also you have to wait until either the renewal or transfer of your residence. There is no other way out of this situation.

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

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