Legal Clinic

I got a driving license in Jan 2014 with Engineer designation. In 2015 I joined another company, unfortunately my new company changed my designation to supervisor.

My license expired in January 2017. After I tried to renew it at the Muroor they told me I could not renew it. Now my company has changed my title to Engineer. I took my first license from Farwaniya muroor.

Through our mandoub I checked in Asma Muroor but there is no license in the system. Could you please advise if I can renew my driving license, my present salary is KD 400. Kindly advise me.

Name withheld

Answer: Under current rules, the change of designation decision that can lead to the loss of driving license, affects driver, housewife, student and mandoub.

We do not know exactly why the renewal of your license was rejected but we suspect it might have been rejected possibly because of the change in your designation from engineer to supervisor.

Even though, supervisor is not among the affected designations, the office who rejected your license renewal request could have based his decision on the fact that the initial license was issued to you through a waiver for engineers because you did not meet the salary condition of KD 600 to be granted a driving license.

To the officer’s mind probably, with the change in designation, you lose your right to a waiver and hence rejection of your renewal request. Since your company has reverted to your previous designation as engineer, you could submit a fresh application for the renewal of your license.

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

I had an inquiry regarding indemnity calculation but unfortunately I did not receive a reply for my previous mail.

My question was as follows: I have been working with my company since Dec 10, 2012 and I placed my resignation in Dec 2016 and the company accepted and gave me a notice period till 12th March, 2017.

My salary now is KD 390, and I have almost 35 days annual leave left as of February 2017. I have decided to stay till the last date of my notice period 12th March, 2017.

Kindly advise as to how much indemnity I will receive. Awaiting your reply and thanks in advance.

Name withheld

Answer: Your indemnity will be calculated as follows: By the end of the 3-month notice period you should have put in a total of 4.25 years.

Your indemnity calculation will therefore be as follows:

You get 15 days pay for each of the 4.25 years which is equal to 63:75.

You then divide this 63:75 by 26 (working days in a month) which is equal to 2.45 months pay.

You multiply 2.45 by your monthly salary of KD 390.

This will give you KD 955.500 but since you are resigning without putting in 5 years or more you are entitled to only half of this amount which is equal to KD 477.75.

For the balance of leave which is 35 days you have to divide this by 26 (working days in a month).

This will give you 1.34 months pay which is multiplied by your salary of KD 390 = KD 522.600.

Your total settlement will therefore be KD 477.75 x KD 522.6 = KD 1,000.350.

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

Please advise whether the below news is genuine or not. General Department for Residency Affairs has issued a decision to prohibit residency transfer from Article No. 22 (family visa) to Article No 18 (private sector work visa) for expatriate women. The decision also stipulates cancellation of residency of expatriate women in case of divorce, after which they should exit the country.

Name withheld

Answer: A clarification was made two days after the said news item was published both in the English and Arabic newspapers. The clarification had it that there was no fundamental change in the transfer of Article 22 to Article 18 for expatriate women. However, the clarification added that in the case of a divorce the woman could not transfer her 22 to 18 but would have her residence cancelled and return to home country.

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

I am working as a nurse under a private contract with a monthly salary of KD 300 and at present staying in company accommodation. My wife is in Kuwait under her father’s residence.

Is it possible for me to transfer her residency to mine? Will I get family residence since my salary is below KD 450?

What is the procedure to be followed for the residence transfer of my wife? Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Name withheld

Answer: We answered a similar question like this two weeks ago but for the purpose of emphasis we will oblige you with another answer as you pointed out, your salary is below the KD 450 cap. This means that you are not qualified to transfer your wife’s residence to your sponsorship.

In addition we must point out that Kuwait law prevents a father from continuing to sponsor a daughter who contracts marriage.

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

I would like to ask about the news on lifting ban on issuing Kuwaiti visas to Pakistanis, as announced recently during the meeting of Pakistani prime minister and Kuwaiti officials.

Moreover, I would like to know when it will be official? As I am curious about its implementation. Because, I want to apply for family visa for my wife, my job designation is Sales Manager, and my monthly salary is KD 650.

Name withheld

Answer: This news item was premised on the recent official visit to Kuwait by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Even if there is some truth in it nothing official has been announced.

For now, the news on lifting the ‘ban’ or what the Kuwait government describes as ‘restrictions’ is nothing but a rumour and should be considered as such.

Even though you are more than qualified to apply for a family visa, your chances of having the application approved is near to zilch if you make a try at it.

For now it will be better to wait and pray that a favourable decision is taken in favour of all qualified Pakistanis.

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

I have been working here since December 2013. My basic salary is KD 400. I am working here on a Civil Foreman Visa. Now I want to bring my wife and children on dependent visa. Is it possible for me to bring them?

Name withheld

Answer: No, you cannot bring your wife and kids on dependent visas since you are earning a salary below the KD 450 salary cap under the current sponsorship regulations.

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

I am writing for the purpose of getting a clear understanding and guide from you very end. I was hired abroad under a government project visa. I have been working for almost 3 years now here in Kuwait. My company notified me that my contract project is already finished.

Now, they asked me to transfer to another government visa project and pay all the fees needed amounting to KD 360.

I want to ask if it is possible for me to transfer to my husband’s visa as dependent. His salary is only KD 350. If it is possible, how much fees needed for me to be able to process the transfer? Hoping for a favorable response from you.

Name withheld

Answer: Under the current and other decisions, it is permissible to transfer only to another government project of the same sponsor, or another government project of a different sponsor if the current project is done with, or to the general file of the current sponsor. Under these decisions therefore you cannot transfer to your husband’s sponsorship.

Even if room was made for you to transfer to your husband’s sponsorship, it would still not be possible since your husband’s salary is below the KD 450 salary cap.

If you therefore want to keep the job it would be safer for you to pay the KD 360 for transfer to another government project. It will not however be out of place to demand to know the breakdown of the amount quoted for the transfer to be made. For your information there is a KD 300 fee for transfer from one government project, on its completion, to another government with a different sponsor.

However, to transfer to another government project of the same sponsor the fee is KD 200. There is another possibility which you can take advantage of. Under this arrangement you pay KD 350 to transfer your permit to the main file of the same sponsor. For the avoidance of doubt you should check from your sponsor to know under which of the above scenarios your transfer will take place — that is if you make up your mind on the offer made.

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

I am a Kuwait born Pakistani citizen and my father served Kuwait Air Force for more than 25 years. We came to Pakistan in 1999 due to higher education of me and my siblings.

Meanwhile, Kuwait imposed visa ban for Pakistanis. Now I’m an engineering graduate and have been working in IT industry for more then three years.

I want to visit Kuwait so I may get a chance to work there. Is there any way that I can get a visa for the aforementioned reason? Your prompt response is awaited and will be highly appreciated.

Name withheld

Answer: The fact that you were born in Kuwait and the fact that your father served in the Kuwait Air Force for more than 25 years mean little or nothing with regard to a Pakistani citizen seeking any form of visa to Kuwait.

The refrain, as we keep pointing out has been that the government says there is no ban but some restrictions on the issuance of visas to Pakistanis.

Under these restrictions visa applicants must go through the security authorities for security clearance. Though, not entirely ruled out, it is very rare for Pakistanis to get this clearance.

In short, we will not be off the mark to hazzard that you will not be able to get a visa to Kuwait

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

Kindly advise, can our company force us to take our leave salary on completion of one year? For example after working for one year and taking leave encashment, we go on leave say for 1 month in which there will be no payment for that month.

In case there are public holidays in between will it be deducted as part of salary deductions? Let us say I go on leave on April 2, 2017 and return to work on May 1, 2017.

There is a public holiday on April 24, 2017. In this case, my company will not pay me full month’s salary as I was given my leave encashment in April though I did not ask for it. In addition, they did not pay me for April 24, which was a public holiday. I need your feedback on how the calculation should be done.

Name withheld

Answer: According to the current Kuwait Labor Law every employee is entitled to get 30 days paid leave in a year. This means that you will not work for 30 days but you would be paid for those days. It is therefore not correct to assume that you were not paid for the month that you were on holidays. It must be noted that in the 30 days leave, the one weekly off day per week is not counted.

This is in addition to official holidays falling within this leave. To calculate your leave salary, the 30 days have to be first divided by 26 (working days in a month) and then multiplying the result by your monthly salary. If you don’t have immediate use of your leave salary nothing prevents you from instructing your accounts department to pay the same into your bank account.

The issue of you being forced to encash your leave salary doesn’t arise here since it is your entitlement. It is only when the company fails to live up to its obligation that one can say there is a problem and hence seeks remedy.

I have a question about the new rules. I am working in Kuwait, wife is also dependent visa and my baby was born in India. I brought my daughter to Kuwait on a visit visa, before the new rules were announced. My salary is only KD 400. Now is it possible to transfer the visit visa to family visa?

Name withheld

Answer: It doesn’t matter that you brought your child to Kuwait before the rules were announced. If you had approached the Immigration Department for the transfer of your baby’s residence to dependent before the rules were announced you would have faced no problems. But now you have to meet the salary condition of KD 450.

But you should still submit an application to the Director General of Immigration because he has the authority to study and if needed approve applications of those expatriates who are earning less than KD 450, especially if both the parents are already in Kuwait or if the baby is born in Kuwait.

Send your queries to [email protected] or [email protected]