Legal Clinic

I need your advise. I am Filipina, married to a Pakistani man and our children are in Pakistan. They were born here but for some reason we have decided to keep them in Pakistan. Now we want to bring them back here but I’m a bit worried as my husband’s salary written in iznamal is KD 300 only.

Another concern is that their nationality is Pakistani. In case they will be denied because of the nationality and my husband’s salary, our next option is to bring them to Philippines (they are both having Philippine passport). I am earning KD 450 monthly. Is it possible to get them from Philippines under my sponsorship?

Name withheld

Answer: Unfortunately, you cannot sponsor your children despite the fact that your monthly salary of KD 450 qualifies you to do so. Under Kuwait law it is only the man who can sponsor the children on family visa but since your husband’s salary of KD 300 a month falls below the KD 450 threshold, he will not be able to bring the children to Kuwait on family visa.

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I wanted your help regarding some question for dependent visa. I am living in Kuwait and working here with a salary of KD 1,250 per month. I want to bring my wife to Kuwait on a dependent visa. After she comes to Kuwait, will she obtain a residency card or not? Will she undertake medical exams and fingerprints? Also, more important, can she apply for work here? Can she transfer the dependent visa to a work visa? Which is the best option she can work here? I would appreciate very much a response from you.

Name withheld

Answer: If you bring your wife to Kuwait on dependent visa she will definitely get a resident permit but this can only be possible if she successfully undergoes medical examination and fingerprinting. As regard transfer of the dependent visa to work visa, your wife should be in Kuwait for at least a year, unless she is a university graduate in which case the one year residency requirement is waived. After satisfying these requirements all that your wife will need is a release from you as the sponsor so that the company which offers her a job could apply for a work permit for her.

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I just want to ask regarding release … it’s my third company and I was hired and have spent locally 1 yr and 1 month but my present employer doesn’t want to give me release even after signing my resignation letter and my clearance. Is he right to deny me a release?

Name withheld

Answer: As you were locally hired and you have spent over one year with your current employer he is legally bound to offer you a release and if he is adamant in offering you one, then we advise that you file a case against him at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour through the Labour Department in your area. For your information, if you are a university graduate, you could have demanded a release from the sponsor at any point of time because you were locally hired.

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My basic salary is KD 550 Date of joining: Feb 1, 2014 Termination received 3 months notice period from: Sept 1, 2017 to Nov 30, 2017. Still leave balance: 11.18 day Please send me the clarification

Name withheld

Answer: The calculation of your indemnity will be as follows: Service: 3.75 years

Salary: KD 550 You have entitled to 15 days pay for each year of service = 3.75 x 15 = 56.25 days.

But these days must first be divided by 26 (working days in a month) = 56.25 divided by 26 = 2.163 months salary =2.163 x KD 550 = KD 1,189.650.

The balance of 11.18 days annual leave has to be divided by 26 (number of days in a month) = 11.18 divided by 26 = 0.43 month pay = 0.43 x 550 = KD 236.500.

So your total settlement is KD 1,189.650 + KD 236.500 = KD 1,426.150.

This amount you will receive in full became your services were terminated.

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I am an Indian resident living in Mumbai I have a Kuwaiti Visa to be stamped from Kuwait Consulate Mumbai, when I went to consulate to submit my visa in Consulate they informed me to submit it through M/s. Mawared Services India Pvt. Ltd., as authorised visa facilitation center. When I went there to submit the visa they demanded charges of 9,463 INR in their name instead of consulate whereas the consulate fees is only 5,000/-

I filled the application form and submitted my documents with Demand Draft of 9,463 in the name of VFS services now even after submitting the documents it has been 15 days still I have not received my Visa stamped when I inquired about the same they said there are more than 1,000 visa pending from various agents that need to be submitted first, as they have limited quota of passport to be submitted in the consulate around only 100 per day whereas there are more than 500 applications per day.

I request you please print this article in your newspaper so that the Ministry in Kuwait come to know about the plight of the common man to submit the visa in consulate and the extra services fees they have been charged.

Name withheld
Answer: This is for the information of Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We hope they do something about it to lessen the plight of applicants who want their visas stamped.

On the other hand if what is happening is the normal procedure, then the ministry may consider it a social responsibility to impress on the service company or companies involved to educate their clients to disabuse their minds that these companies are unnecessarily delaying in stamping their visa but that what they are doing are normal work processes.

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I am currently working in a multi-national company (Kuwait branch), I was hired by this company from India and came to Kuwait on 2nd December 2016. I have signed an employment contract as per the Kuwait labour law which starts from the date of arrival ie (19 December 2016) and ends on 19 December 2017.

On 17th August 2017 the company terminated my services due to poor performance and as per the termination letter they told me that my last working day would be 10th September 2017.

However, I was supposed to render my services from 19 December 2016 till 19 December 2017 as per my visa and Kuwait employment contract under Kuwait labour law, but my company terminated me without any 3 months of notice period which is totally unfair. So I sent the revert to my HR through my official email asking for compensation for 3 months of salary as per the Kuwait labor law, but my company did not reply and simply changed the password of the email address so that I cannot have access to those emails and on the same day I was asked not to come to the office (20 August 2017). Then again after 2 days I send them the same email from my personal ID but again there was no response and they keep calling me on my personal mobile and telling me to leave the company without any complaint to Sho’un.

They were also putting pressure on me to sign on a paper where it was written that the company gave me all the dues and I have received my full and final salary and I will not claim and demand anything whatsoever from the company . I refused to sign on that paper and they started threatening me and saying that they will show that I was not coming to the office and ran away and on 14 September they filed a case in Sho’un that I was not coming to the office which is not true. I have all the documents like: Voice note from my Sponsor, emails, and text from my company number, stating that they were forcing me to come to the office and to sign that no due certificate.

Just wanted to tell you sir that there are many things on which my company cheated me in these 9 months:

1- Firstly, In the employment contract it was clearly mentioned that my basic salary would be KD 350 as per the Kuwait employment contract, but from the month of March 2017 they started deducting KD 100 from my salary without any notice or letter saying that I have to pay for my visa, tickets and everything and till August 2017 they kept deducting.

2- Secondly, In the employment contract it was mentioned that the company has to pay for my accommodation, transportation and for my fooding every month, but still my company did not pay even for a single month as well and again cheated me.

3- Thirdly, In the very first month I asked my company to pay my salary in my bank account, as the Kuwait law says that every company is supposed to pay their salaries in the employee’s bank account so asked my company to do the same (but my company denied) and said no we do not do so, we pay cash.

Now I have the job offer letter from the different company but my company is not giving me release and they are not paying my salary which is due for 3 months.

Name withheld
Answer: All the measures the company has taken against you have been in flagrant violation of the Kuwait Labor.

The non-compliance of the terms and conditions of the signed contract as well as the termination of services without the mandatory 3-month notice period or 3 months salary in lieu of that are breaches under the Labor Law.

Luckily, you have enough documentary proof to show culpability of the company in the way they treated you.

In this perspective, we advise that you file a counter complaint against the company with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor thorough the Labor Department in your area. We are more than convinced that the law is on your side and you will come out the victor all things being equal.

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I am an Indian working in a contracting company from 7/11/2012 as an Engineer with visa Article 18 and my visa was renewed on 05/06/2017. I got another job offer and I submitted my resignation on 14-06-2017.

My project manager and project director signed on my resignation. But the HR is not receiving my resignation until the Assistant CEO signs on the resignation.

Till today the Asst CEO did not sign and I doubt whether I will get his sign before my 3 months notice period.

In this case how can I make sure that I will get release and can join the other company after my 3 months notice period.

I have the copy of my resignation signed by project manager and project director.

Please help me. I will be grateful to you.

Answer: Arrange to meet the Asst CEO to redirect his attention to your release request and the need for his signature. If he insists on not signing the paper, then we suggest that you file a complaint against the company at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor through the Labor Department in your area.

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Our employee who just joined us in the first week of February 2017 this year is now on maternity leave (from July 2, 2017). We know that she is entitled to 70 days maternity leave according to Kuwait Labor law.

However, we are not sure to give the full remuneration because she has not completed even 1 year with us. We are not even sure if she will come back after taking her leave. Is she entitled to an annual leave as well? We wanted to have a fair treatment for both our company and her. She claims to have the right to both maternity and annual leaves. Your earliest reply will be highly appreciated.

Name withheld

Answer: A woman employee is entitled to 70 days maternity leave as you rightly said. Your difficulty is whether to pay her for all these 70 days. Well, the labour law talks of 70 days paid maternity leave so there is no leeway over this and the employee must be paid for all these 70 days regardless of how many days, months or years she has spent under your employment.

As for the annual leave is a total different issue from maternity leave, she can only qualify for one if she returns from the maternity and satisfies the conditions precedent to applying for a annual leave.

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I have been with my wife and daughter in Kuwait for the past 3 years. I would like to bring my son who is in India on visit visa. Can I change his visa to family visa after he enters Kuwait? My son age: 2 years one month by the time he reaches Kuwait. My salary: KD 800.

Name withheld

Answer: Under current rules and regulations, infants two years and below can have their visit visas changed to family visas when they enter Kuwait. But as you stated, your son will be two years one month when he enters Kuwait. This means that your son will be outside the permissible age group that qualifies for a change of visit visa to family visa. But the big question is why apply for a visit visa when the KD 800 monthly salary you earn more than qualifies you to sponsor your son on a family visa. So, please, go ahead and apply for a family visa for your son, you are qualified for it.

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Repeated questions wont be entertained pls refer to our archives

I am working in Kuwait, please help me on how to check whether my visa is factory visa or company visa.

Name withheld

Answer: The type of visa one holds is normally stated in the work and residence permits. The problem is normally with holders of visa 18 which has different categories. Your mandoub will be in the best position to tell you if your visa is factory or company visa.

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

Repeated questions wont be entertained pls refer to our archives