‘Residencies of cooks holding Driving Licenses will not be renewed’ – Ban on visas for Bangladeshis denied

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KUWAIT CITY, Sept 22: Assistant Undersecretary for Passports and Citizenship Affairs in the Interior Ministry Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah has announced the suspension of the renewal of residency permits of 100,000 domestic workers and cooks who hold driving licenses illegally, reports Al-Qabas daily.

In a press statement, Al-Jarrah pointed out these domestic workers and cooks contribute to traffic jams as it has been discovered that many of them are engaged in delivery work and drive their own cars. He explained these workers will not be able to renew their residency permits unless they hand over their driving licenses or change their line of work into one that allows them to hold driving licenses.

He added the sponsors of these workers will not be allowed to hire new workers if they do not comply with the directive.

Talking about the procedures for obtaining family visa, Al-Jarrah disclosed a family visa application will be rejected if the father is not living in Kuwait. He asserted the decision states that the parents must be living in Kuwait as a condition for getting a family visa, indicating this is part of efforts to fix the lopsided demographic structure in the country.

Meanwhile, Director General of the Residency Affairs Department Major General Talal Maarefi has confirmed the online issuance of 1,000 tourist and commercial visas within one day for hotels and major companies.

He said this is in compliance with the directives of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Muhammad Al-Khaled and Undersecretary Lieutenant General Sulaiman Al-Fahd to provide online services for citizens, expatriates and visitors.

Maarefi added the decision on allowing each Kuwaiti family to have one Bangladeshi worker remains in effect. He also advised all expatriates who got a seal for residency when the stickers were not available to visit the concerned departments in order to replace the seals with residency stickers.

‘No ban on visas’: Director-General of General Department of Residence Affairs Major-General Talal Ma’arafi has denied rumors circulating in some quarters that the concerned authorities have stopped issuing No 20 visas for Bangladeshis, reports Al-Rai daily.

The official asserted this information holds no water saying the department has until now not received any orders in this regard from senior leadership. Speaking to the daily, Major- General Ma’arafi said there are certain conditions that have been laid down for the citizens to bring in Bangladeshi domestic workers.

Meanwhile, Ma’arafi has called on the residents to visit the concerned department in their respective governorates to complete the formalities if extension of residence permits. He said the first phase of e-visa project will include those persons who are exempted from fees followed by the others in the next phase.

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