Legal Clinic

I just want to ask my Civil ID and working visa have expired. My employer just got me an extension visa until February 2020 (3 months extension visa). Can I leave the country with just my extension visa or no.

Name withheld
Answer: Yes, you can leave the country with the extension visa but if you do that you will not be able to return to Kuwait unless a new visa is applied for you to enable your return. If this is done you will then have to go through all the process to become a legal resident in Kuwait

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I am staying in Kuwait on a dependent visa of my husband for a year, now I am pregnant and I want parents to come and stay with me for my delivery. Is it possible to get 3 months visa for them to stay in Kuwait.

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately, your parents can only be given a one-month visa to visit Kuwait. The three months visa you talked about is for wife, husband and children on visit. Also, visitors on tourist visa are entitled to three months stay.

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I have been working in my company for the past 3 years. I am a degree holder, too. The company that I am working doesn’t give release even to staff that have been working for 6 years so they go to Shoun and the Shoun gives release for them. I would just like to ask, if the resignation letter filing is really 3 months period to become effective as per Kuwait law? or can I file my resignation with 1 month notice period?

Name withheld

Answer: The company is dead wrong in refusing to grant release to workers who qualify for it and it is a high time the workers stand up to it by filing a class action against the company to compell it to abide by the provisions of the labour law that deal with worker’s release. On your second question be informed that the notice period before resignation becomes effective is three months but if there is mutual agreement between the parties the period can be shortened.

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I am currently working as a nurse and my company gives me 2 months extension on my visa instead of renewing it. My driver’s licence is still valid until August 2020. Can I still drive with Visa 14?

Name withheld

Answer: Visa extension (visa 14) is done to prevent you from being classified as as an illegal resident. This means that until your residence is renewed, you will be arrested if you are found driving as your driving licence is tied to the validity of your residence permit.

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If a woman is unwell post delivery and hospitalized for the same can she avail sick leave for that period of sickness and then avail maternity leave post sickness? In my understanding of the law it cannot be permitted as provided she gives birth during this period. Kindly advise. Also, I would like to know by law what is the time frame of providing 2 hours to feed the baby for private sector employees. Please advise.

Name withheld

Answer: In most cases women take maternity before the period of delivery sets in. If a women is unwell postdelivery, our understanding is that the woman is already on maternity and hence the hospitalization you talked about would have taken place during the period the woman was already on maternity leave.

The question of applying for maternity leave post-sickness does not therefore arise: if however the woman did not initially apply for the maternity leave before she was hospitalized, then nothing stops her from applying for the maternity leave post-sickness.

On the issue of the two-hour break to breastfeed a baby we must point out that the office timings for the woman will remain unchanged and will be the same as it is with all the other employees.

It is within these working hours that the woman is entitled to two hours to feed her baby. So if, for example, the woman’s company has a 0900 to 1700 hours schedule, the woman is required to follow the same hours but she can take two hours off in between at some point — to be mutually decided with her company — to feed the baby. We must however point out that this facility is not for an unlimited period while the duration has not been specified by the law, it is normally for about three months. It could be more but that has to be decided by the company.

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I am currently living in Kuwait under Visa 18 and is planning to travel on December 16 and will be returning to Kuwait on January 1. My Visa will expire on January 2. Is it okay for me to travel on this date and be here on 1st of January? Kindly advise me with this information.

Name withheld

Answer: You will face no problem if you touch down in Kuwait on January 1, but it is always better that in such situations you must make room for emergencies and to take care for such emergencies like flight cancellation. In this prespective it will be better for you to fix your date of arrival for December 31 rather than the ‘precarious’ January 1.

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I am non-Kuwaiti (Asian woman) married to a Kuwaiti man. I caught my husband cheating on WhatsApp with another Arab woman. May I know if there is any case I can file for the mistress without involving my husband? Can I file alienation of affection? Or maybe emotional distress? Or maybe divorce the best way to end this? Please help me with this one.

Name withheld

Answer: The questions you are asking are outside the remit of labour issues that the ‘Legal Clinic’ seeks to be of relevance. We therefore advise that you seek directions from a legal chamber that can be of more help to you.

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I’m worried that my wife is now pregnant but she is almost 2 years in her company now and she was directly hired from Philippines. We got married 3 years ago and now we are very happy she is pregnant but the problem is the company of my wife doesn’t allow all lady workers to be pregnant because that is their company policy and they said they will send my wife back to Philippines. My question now is … Doesn’t my wife have right to be pregnant? Is it possible that her company will terminate her because of pregnancy? Please sir, enlighten me on this issue.

Name withheld

Answer: The Kuwait Labour Law is generous towards pregnant women giving them 70 days maternity leave with pay. Nowhere in the labor law, are companies given the option of firing women who became pregnant. Such a law if it exists will be a gross violation of the rights of such women and an act that can be described as gender discrimination. Should the company terminate the services of your wife because of her pregnancy, we advise that your wife file a case with the Public Authority for Manpower through the labor office in your area and seek redress.

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I worked in the ministry for the last 12 years and hold a driving licence issued in 2016, recently I joined a private company and my salary is KD 1,400. I hold a diploma and a university degree, the issue is they have put my educational qualification in work permit as diploma as they said the title they have put in my work permit doesn’t match with my university degree, sir will this affect my driving licence. Please do maintain my anonymity.

Name withheld

Answer: We do not think this should affect your driving licence since the eligibility rule for a licence talks about university degree holder and nothing about the degree’s relationship to the type of work you do. We advise that you should get your degree attested if you have not yet done so, in order that if the issue of your qualification crops up as regard your driving licence, you can prove to them that you also hold a degree in addition to your diploma. Having said all that we have said we must caution that the prerogative of granting or revoking a licence is the exclusive preserve of the Traffic Department and they can decide on the issue regardless of what we have said here.

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I had been working in Kuwait for 2 years, but when my residence expired I wasn’t able to renew it, after that I went back to my home country and my previous employer give me visa. I want to know whether I can change my current employer. On new visa I have served 9 months. I am university graduate also and I am working a accounts assistant.

Name withheld

Answer: If the current employer was the same that gave you a visa to return to Kuwait, then the law obliges you to work three years for him\her before you can ask for a release. On the other hand if you are working for a different employer (which the law frowns upon), then you may change a new employer after serving one year with the current employer who in any case is not your sponsor so the one year service will be tied to the sponsor who brought you back to Kuwait from your home country. In that case the change of sponsor will be deemed to have been approved by the original sponsor.

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