Legal Clinic

I am presently working as assistant professor in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. I am an Indian citizen. I have been working for the past six years in Saudi Arabia. I am about to get a job offer from Kuwait. So, how should I proceed further without going to India for further attestation and getting visa? Can I do it in Saudi Arabia itself? What about medical examination? Please let me know.

Name withheld

Answer: We advise that when you get your appointment letter which might come with an entry visa or instructions on how to acquire one, you go to the Kuwait embassy in the Kingdom with the attested copies of your certificate(s) and enquire from them if they will be accepted in Kuwait or if you need to do a new attestation. They will also be in position to tell you if you need a new attestation where that should be done. As regard the medicals, we believe also that the embassy will be in the best position to tell you where you will do it

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If I resign from my company by end of this month (30/04/2018) with 3 month notice period. There is one day weekly off (without Friday) or daily 1 hour leave from working hour is applicable or not. Same thing if they are terminating me, there is one day weekly off (without Friday) or daily 1 hour leave from working hour is applicable or not. Please advise my joining data August 2015, how can I get indemnity.

Name withheld

Answer: When you tender in your resignation the understanding is that either you are leaving to take up a new job in another company or leaving Kuwait for good.

The issue of one day off in a week or one hour off daily does not arise. On the other hand, if you are fired you need to be given adequate time to look for another job hence the institution of the one day 1 one hour rule.

Your 3-month notice period will end on July 30, 2018. By that date you will have put in 2 years 11 months of service.

This falls one month short of the 3 years you need to put in the be entitled to an indemnity. In short you have nothing to collect from your company since you are resigning and not being fired.

My question is my wife was on dependent visa in Kuwait. She had gone to India for holidays and stayed there more than six months. Her visa expired on 7/3/18. I know her visa will be cancelled automatically. In this case can I bring her on visit visa or is there any problem? My salary in work permit is KD 300. Your valuable suggestions highly appreciated.

Name withheld

Answer: As you rightly said, your wife’s visa was automatically cancelled as she had spent more than six months outside Kuwait. With a monthly salary of KD 300, you will have no problem in sending her a visa to visit.

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want to bring my mother to Kuwait by visit visa, can I know how much salary should be enough and if I get visit visa how many months validity. Please give me answer.

Name withheld

Answer: You should be earning at least KD 250 per month to be able to bring your mother here on visit visa. If you get the visit visa your mother will have three months within which to enter Kuwait and upon entry she will have one month to stay in Kuwait and leave on or before the expiry of the one month validity period of the visa

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Hi! I just want to know if my driving licence will be cancelled if I change my profession. I was a phlebotomist in the hospital laboratory earning KD 335. Now I will move to a new company as laboratory technician earning KD 400.

Name withheld

Answer: The fact that you had a driving licence despite the fact that your monthly salary of KD 335 was below the required minimum of KD 600 meant that you were given an exemption by virtue of your designation. This means that if your new designation qualifies for exemption your licence will not be cancelled. On the other hand if it doesn’t qualify for exemption then we are afraid the licence will be cancelled.

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I am a 3 years Polytechnic Diploma holder (Diploma in Computer Science and Engineering mentioned in the certificate) from India and presently working as ‘System Analyst’ (Muhalil Nudum) in my work permit.

I have been here since 15 years in same position and same company. To renew my work permit, should I need to register in Kuwait Society of Engineers for NOC? Or not required since I am a diploma holder and my job position is system analyst. Please clarify in your Legal Clinic.

Name withheld

Answer: We don’t think you need membership of Kuwait Society of Engineers or a no-objection certificate from the latter to renew your work permit since you are neither a degree holder or an engineer in the right sense of the word.

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Please be informed that I did my engineering from Osmania University College of Engineering campus which is accredited in NBA list of KSE. I entered Kuwait on mechanical engineer visa in 2006 and changed job 3 times and since February 2013 my position has been changed to commercial manager.

Kindly not that I recently renewed my driving license on March 28 whereby position is also commercial manager mentioned in license.

Kindly please advise if in case of visa transfer locally or renewal of my visa which is no more position of engineer, do I still have to be a member of Kuwait Society of Engineers.

Name withheld

Answer: The issue of membership of Kuwait Society of Engineers as a prelude of renewing or transferring of visa is a new requirement and hence, not much is known of other issues that may have a correlation with this requirement.

It will therefore be difficult to give precise answers to your questions. With our limited knowledge on the issue, all that we can say is if your current job description or any job you wish to apply for in future requires that you must be a graduate to occupy such a position, you may be required to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Kuwait Society of Engineers and to get such an NOC will mean that you have to be a member of the society.

To be on the safer side of the equation, we advise that you renew your membership of KSE and when a time comes for you to apply for an NOC, you will not face any hurdles.

We give this advice based on the knowledge that there are occasions when two different officers give conflicting interpretations of the same law. In order, therefore, not to be caught unaware it is always better you arm yourself with the necessary documents because you don’t know the officer who will attend to you

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I came to know that there is a new practice of issuing visit visa for parents which would enable them to stay in Kuwait for three months as opposed to one month previously. Is this true? Further if visit visa is sought for parents from 6 nationalities which require special approval what would be the stay limit for such visit visa?

Name withheld

Answer: To the best of our knowledge, the validity of visit visa for parents is one month. We are not aware of any change to this rule. As regard validity of visit visas for parents from six countries which require special approval, our answer is that validity of visit visa is same for all countries and does not discriminate. The approval methods may differ but not the validity when approved.

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My company terminated my services without reason. I worked for 5 years. Any way I accepted it and am on 3 months notice period till end of May, but my only concern is about my final settlement. Considering my company history and how previous employees were troubled with their indemnity and transfer I am afraid of the same with me. How can I make sure the company does not create problem with my transfer and full settlement.

Name withheld

Answer: Since the company terminated your services, they are bound by the law to transfer your residence to another sponsor of your choice and to also pay you your full indemnity. However, in practical terms a lot of companies do things in their own way to the advantage of fired or resigned workers.

Our advice to you, therefore, is that if you see any sign that the company intends to treat you in the same manner they treated your previous colleagues, just file a case against the company at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour through the Labour Office in your area. If after filing the case and you don’t make any headway at the ministry, you shouldn’t stop there but proceed to the courts to seek justice.

If people like you begin to put away the fear of victimization you entertain and begin to take on some of these companies, they will respect the provisions of the labour law and not break them with impunity as they currently do.

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I have been working in Kuwait private sector. My monthly basic salary is KD 190, but I am getting KD 325 so, I am eligible to bring my family through visit visa to my wife, (22 years old). Can I apply for visit visa. If I am not eligible, is there any alternate process to get visit visa like bank statement any other way.

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately you cannot invite your wife on a visit visa because to be able to do that you should be earning a monthly salary of not less than KD 250 which must reflect in your work permit and not what appears in your bank account by way of salary transfer.

The other option is that your wife can take advantage to visit Kuwait is through a tourist visa that can only be arranged by a hotel allowed to apply for such visas on behalf of potential clients. We must point out that this option is expensive as upon arrival, your wife has to stay in the hotel at a cost for a specific number of days.

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