Legal Clinic

My wife is pregnant and is in Kuwait on a dependent family visa. Can I bring my mother-in- law (53 yrs) to look after my wife until the delivery? Is it possible that I can get a 3-month visit visa? My salary is above KD 500. What are the documents required? How can I show the relationship documents for my motherin-law?

Name withheld

Answer: You will be able to get a visit visa but only for one month — which can’t be extended — because the three-month visit visas are only for the immediate family, wife and children. You have also to remember that you have to use the visit visa within one month of its issuance, otherwise it will expire and you will have to get a new one.

The documents you require are: your and your wife’s Civil ID copies, the rental agreement, copy of your work permit, passport copy of your mother-in-law and an affidavit showing your relationship with the person you wish to call.

This affidavit, in Arabic, will be typed at your embassy from where you have to also get it attested. You have then to get the same attested from Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Shuwaikh. Attach all these to an application and you should have no problems in getting the visit visa.

My wife and two kids have valid family residency till May 2017 and now they are in their home country on vacations. They will return to Kuwait in September.

Now I’m on a 3-month temporary residence and it is going to expire on July 20, 2016. My company is going to stamp the permanent residence for me next week. In case my company stamps my residency after July 20, 2016 (by paying the penalty) will it cause problems for my family members residency? Will my family face problems while entering in Kuwait in September?

Name withheld

Answer: Please remember that as long as your residence is not cancelled, the residence of your family will not be affected but as soon as your residence is cancelled so will — according to the new law which went into effect at the start of this year — that of your family.

So, we would like to advise you to ensure that you are not “illegal” in the country for any reason. Otherwise your family could face problems on re-entering the country.

I am really thankful to the legal department of the Arab Times as I got a prompt reply — through the Legal Clinic column — to my previous question. I am seeking one more clarification through this channel, please help. We are in search of “sales executives” for our shipping business and due to a shortage or high demand in salary package, face difficulty in getting the right candidate.

So, as an alternative solution, we hope that we can appoint part-time staff under an incentive scheme with those who are working in ministries (after their duty hours or weekends).

Our question is, are there any legal issues in hiring part-time employees from the ministry sector? Hope that the legal department can assist us in this matter.

We really appreciate the initiative of Arab Times to guide those who are ignorant in these areas.

Name withheld

Answer: Yes, you can hire parttime employees from the ministry sector and there should be no problems in this regard as long as these employees have permission — from their ministries — to take up employment in the private sector.

There are some ministries which are very strict and do not allow their employees to take up part-time employment but most of them have no problems in this regard. You are required to keep a copy of this permission so you can produce the same in case Ministry of Social and Labor Affairs inspectors visit your firm. Failure to produce these documents could result in legal action against you and the ministry employee

I am requesting your assistance for the below problem as it is affecting my career … due to lack of a driving license.

I am working in my company as a sales executive since 2013 and my salary was 450 when I joined. Currently I am drawing KD 625 as my basic salary after getting this year’s increment but my “Izen Amel” (work permit) still showed KD 545 when my residence was renewed in March 2016.

When I approached the Traffic Department for a license with my company salary certificate, the officials informed me that the same amount should be there on the “Izen Amel” … which can only be amended when my residence is renewed the next time, technically speaking in February 2018 as our company gets our residence for 2 years normally.

Is there any way to amend “Izen Amel” in between residence renewals? Your assistance in this matter will highly appreciated

Name withheld

Answer: While there is no law which says that the work permit can’t be amended at any point during the residence, any effort to do so will result in failure because it is common practice at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor/Public Manpower Authority to make the changes only when there is transfer or extension of residence.

Secondly, the Traffic Department is right because the law clearly states that only the salary mentioned on the work permit is accepted for various transactions in the country.

First of all, I would like to thank you for your noble service in providing legal advice to desperate expatriates.

My son was born in Kuwait two months ago. When I got the birth certificate, one civil ID number was mentioned on it. When I paid for the Ministry of Health (MOH) medical insurance, the same number was mentioned on the medical insurance card.

When I went to get the residence (iqama), a different civil ID number was mentioned on the residence stamp pasted on the passport. This makes my son have two different civil ID numbers. How should I correct this?

Name withheld

Answer: We advise you to check the number on the birth certificate because you can’t have a Civil ID number for the baby on the birth certificate because you still have not even applied for the baby’s Civil ID at the time of the issuance of the birth certificate.

The only Civil ID number that the birth certificate can have is that of the father of the child.

I would really appreciate if you can help me with the queries I have mentioned below.

1. Is there any upcoming rule that we can transfer factory visa to company visa even if the employee has not completed 3 years.

2. My wife is expecting a baby this year. Both of our salaries are less than KD 250 individually. But if we both collate our salary the total is more than KD 250. What are the requirements to sponsor our child without any issues.

Name withheld

Answer: Currently, rules in place clearly state that you can’t transfer the factory visas, except to another factory visa, and we so far have no knowledge of any moves to change the status of these rules in the near future.

On the second question, about residence, for your baby we would like to clarify once again that once both the parents are in Kuwait on work permits the salaries of the parents play no part in the residence of the child. It doesn’t matter what the parents are earning, whether they meet the salary ceiling or not, nor is there any need to club the parents salaries. This condition is totally waived.

You will need the following documents to get the residence of the baby.

1. Passport copy of your baby or the copy of the passport in which the baby’s name has been endorsed

2. Civil IDs of you and your wife

3. An affidavit, attested by your embassy and Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Shuwaikh confirming your relation with the person for whom you want the visa.

4. Your flat rental contract

5. Your work permit (showing you earning a salary of at least KD 250) Just attach these to an application and apply for the visa

6. Birth certificate of the baby (translated into Arabic and endorsed by your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, your embassy in Kuwait and the Kuwait Foreign Ministry in Shuwaikh).

But if the baby is born in Kuwait — you have not stated where the child will be delivered — you only need to get the birth certificate endorsed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Attach all the above documents to an application and submit the same to the Immigration Department in your area. You should have no problems if you can supply the above documents.

I am a female who got a job in Kuwait as a teacher beginning in September 2016. I have 2 children, ages 9 and 3, and want to bring them with me as well. I am a university graduate and my salary will be KD 650 per month. I am not yet in Kuwait. Can I take my children? If so, what is the procedure?

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately, you will not be able to sponsor your children as dependents because only the father is allowed to sponsor the children in Kuwait.

Several years ago, the Ministry of Interior had passed a decision allowing female teachers to sponsor their children only to clarify a few days later that this privilege was only for female teachers in government schools.

So, your children will not be able to accompany you although you will be able to get them to Kuwait occasionally on visit visas.

First of all thanks a lot for guiding expatriates with your legal advice service. I am an engineer working and my salary cap is KD 460. I have my brother also working in Kuwait and both us have our wives in Kuwait.

Our parents are alone in India and there is no one with them. I would like bring my parents to Kuwait on a dependent visa. Could you advice if this is possible as recently there was news that expatriates can apply for a dependent visa for parents.

Name withheld

Answer: Currently certain “restrictions” have been placed on the issuance of dependent visas for parents. This was done last year. In fact some senior officials say there is a ban on dependent visas for parents as such elder resident “drain” the resources of the country.

Some expatriates get around these “restrictions” by getting permission for the same from very senior officials of the Interior Ministry but such permissions are very, very rare … almost negligent, so you will have to wait until the “ban” is lifted

I recently read an article on the process for obtaining residency for a newborn in Kuwait. It was very helpful, however I still have one question: My wife and I were married in Kuwait, in a non-Muslim civil wedding.

Our marriage certificate was issued by the Ministry of Justice in Kuwait, so it is already in Arabic. We already have both the English and the original Arabic copies attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs already.

However, since the marriage certificate was issued in Kuwait, do I still need to have it attested by my embassy as well? My embassy would only attest an English translation of it, and as far as I know, the Kuwaiti government only accepts Arabic documents. So is this step necessary?

Name withheld

Answer: If you have a marriage certificate issued by Kuwait’s Ministry of Justice and attested by Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then there is no need to have the same attested by your embassy.

Please remember that the requirement of having documents endorsed by your embassy only comes up if such documents were issued in your own country, not papers issued by any Kuwait government department or institution.

I am from the Philippines. My exhusband is working in Kuwait. He has a girlfriend, who gave birth to a baby girl this month. They are both Filipinos. I just want to ask if the baby can get a birth certificate from Kuwait or they do they have to come to the Philippines to have the baby registered? I do hope you will reply because I am planning to take necessary legal action, and I might be needing a copy of their newborn’s birth certificate to support the case which I plan to file against them. Thank you very much, and looking forward to your response.

Name withheld
Answer: You have not said where this baby has been born but from your question it seems the child was delivered in Kuwait.

On this issue we would like to make one thing clear : such deliveries are only possible in Kuwait if the couple is married. If a single mother gets pregnant in Kuwait, she and the father of the child face legal action if the pregnancy is discovered.

So, if the baby has been delivered in Kuwait the couple must be married and must have produced a “marriage certificate” to the hospital and the birth registration authorities. If this has happened, the authorities will issue them a birth certificate –and even residence — for the child.

Normally, what unmarried couples do is ensure that the pregnancy is not discovered by the authorities and leave Kuwait for their home countries to deliver the babies. After the deliveries they return to the country and carry on with their lives as if nothing has happened.

In such cases there is no way for the Kuwait authorities to take any sort of action against these people because what has happened is beyond their jurisdiction. No government or private hospital will entertain a pregnant woman unless a marriage certificate is produced.

In case, there is still time before the delivery the couple is deported but if not, the child is delivered in the country but the couple are referred to the authorities which initiates legal action against them.

Now, if this “unmarried” couple were to have the baby in the Philippines, there is nothing the Kuwait authorities can do.