Visa Rules That Keep Changing… And Changing

In recent weeks there have been a spate of reports attributed to one government entity or another on the latest visa rules and regulations for foreigners. These rules that seem to change just as soon as they are announced have left many expatriates in Kuwait, as well as those stranded abroad, both confused and perturbed. The uncertainty surrounding their residency status has added to the pressures they already face from having to cope with economic and social stresses brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Here we try to make some semblance of order to all the visa regulations and rules on entry into the country that were enacted or changed during the space of just this one week.

Extension on visit and residency visas: First there was the news at the beginning of the week that there would be no extension granted on residency or visit visas from the start of September. This sent jitters among expatriates, especially migrants from 32 countries whose visas were about to expire or had expired, but they were stranded abroad due to the government’s temporary ban on the arrival of passengers from these countries.

Luckily for them, a new announcement on the very next day brought a wave of relief. The new decision made clear that an extension of three months would be granted to residency and visit visa holders, starting from the first of September. This, said the statement, was done on humanitarian grounds due to exceptional cases of expats stranded abroad due to suspension of airport activities, and in order to avoid crowding at residency affairs departments.

Renewal of visa for 60 and overs: The authorities had announced last week that those aged 60 and above who were not graduates would not have their visas renewed from the beginning of next year. The residency affairs department is also reported to have started denying any extension for people in this category when it came time to renew their residency. People in this category had no other recourse than to leave Kuwait when their visas expired or before the decision came into effect in January 2021.

However, on Wednesday, the Director General of the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM), Ahmed Al-Mousa, is said to have sent a circular to all labor departments to allow renewals of work permits to those who reached the age of 59 and 60 for only one year until the ban comes into play from 1 January 2021. So, even if those in this category would be compelled to leave by New Year day 2021, they did receive a temporary respite by having their visas renewed. According to the circular, when a work permit is issued or renewed, the age of the expat should be checked so that they do not exceed the age of sixty, in compliance with “the provisions of the aforementioned Resolution No. 520/2020 amending Administrative Resolution 552 of 2018 regarding the issuance of work permits under a list of procedures for granting work permission and its amendments.”  Hope the circular makes sense to those for whom it is intended.

According to official data with PAM there are more than 83,000 expats who are above 60 years with secondary qualifications and below, who would have to leave the country at the start of next year. But if you thought only this number of people were going to get thrown out, you figured wrong according to the Public Authority for Civil Information (PACI).

Pointing to their statistical records, PACI said that the number of expats affected by the ban on visa renewals for 60 years and above is actually higher, at around 97,612. To probably rub it in. PACI added that there were also a further 15,502 expatriates who have reached the age of 60 and over but with university degrees. Does that imply those university degrees would have to be verified and accredited; probably not. Anyway, the new numbers have left PAM with the burden of finding an additional 14,612 expatriates listed in the PACI records and deporting them as well, by the start of the new year.

PAM sets new rules on transfer of workers: Given all the rapid-fire announcements and changes in announcements over visa rules that were announced in recent weeks, staff at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) must have been very busy the last couple of weeks. The latest announcement from PAM citing their Director-General was on new conditions for the transfer of workers from one employer to another. While we congratulate PAM for its clarifications in light of the numerous visa changes, we do wish their announcements were reported in language that the layman could understand.

Explaining the new visa transfer rules, PAM said that the law was being announced on the instructions of the Minister of Social Affairs and the Minister of State for Economic Affairs, Maryam AlAqeel, and is meant to impose greater regulations on the labor market in light of the efforts made by Kuwait in this regard. This much is quite clear. But then, the explanation gets all legalese.

PAM said it set “New conditions related to the transfer of work permits as Resolution No. 529 of 2020 was issued requiring the amendment of Administrative Resolution No. 842 of 2015 regarding requirements for the transfer of workers from one employer to another, and the decision specifies the transfer of workers from the private sector to the Governmental sector.” If the above paragraph makes sense to you, then you are probably better at legalese than us.

In a simpler clarification, PAM said that regulations have been put in place to halt the transfer of family visas to work visas in the private sector and from the private sector to the public sector, but specific groups have been allowed to transfer to work permits in the private sector. The exceptions are the husbands and children of Kuwaiti women and the wives of Kuwaitis and those born in Kuwait, and Palestinians with a diploma. The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) also said this week that it would start a series of measures to control the labor market and handle the spillage of workers from government contracts to the private sector after data showed that around 420,000 workers were registered on those contracts.

The Authority said it would implement a ban on transferring the worker from the government contract to the file of the main company under which he works, when the contract ends, and the sponsor will be obligated to terminate the employment contract and ensure the worker leaves the country, or else the company’s file at PAM would be suspended. The next step in its tranche of measures, said PAM, would be to allow the worker to move only from a government contract for the company in which he works to a government contract in the same company, and the worker will not be allowed to transfer to a different government contract under another company.

This step, said PAM was intended to control the labor market and close the residency visa trade outlets.

MoI reiterates fine for over- staying: Though late to the party in announcing new visa rules, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) chimed in this week by saying that it would continue to levy KD2 as fine per day on anyone found to have overstayed their visit or residency visas. The General Department of Residency Affairs at MoI said that it would continue to extract fines from those overstaying, as they had so far not received any instructions from relevant authorities on granting extensions to visit or residency visa holders.

The department however added that in case the MoI receives confirmation of the visa extensions, the online system at the ministry would swiftly automate the process of renewals without the need for a review from the competent department for all those whose residency and visit visas have expired. But then the department cautioned that until it receives the visa extension directive, everyone whose residency or visit visa has expired are obliged to leave the country at the beginning next September, otherwise they will be in violation of the law, and will have to pay a penalty of KD2 for each day of violation. Speak of government bureaucracy.

MoE halts visa for stranded teachers: Not to be outdone in the chorus on new visa rules, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced this week that it would not renew the residency permits for expat teachers who are stranded abroad due to the ban on passengers from 32 countries. The reason for this decision is apparently financial, as the fees for renewal of visas of those teachers stranded abroad would amount to a huge sum. The MoE is understood to be in discussion with the Ministry of Interior on an alternative procedure that would allow the stranded teachers whose residency visa has expired to enter the country on a visit visa, which the MoE would later transfer to the ministry’s visa. The attempt by MoE to wiggle out of paying renewal fees for stranded teachers comes in the footsteps of the Ministry of Health, which said last week that since July it had begun suspending the salaries of doctors, technicians and administrators employed by the ministry, who are stranded abroad and whose vacation days have expired while outside Kuwait. That was not very humanitarian, was it?.

Children’s visas under mother’s sponsorship

Last week there were also reports making the rounds that the authorities had decided to halt the transfer of residency visas of children from the sponsorship of the father to the mother, in case the latter leaves the country permanently or if his visa expires while he is outside the country or even in the event of his death. But then, just when well-employed or self-employed women were getting ready to pack their bags, belongings and with kids in tow head off to their native lands, came a new order.

Again, based on humanitarian grounds, the General Directorate of Residency canceled the previous directive. No wonder Kuwait was recognized by the United Nations as a ‘humanitarian hub’. Under new instructions, issued to directors of residency affairs departments in all six governorates, the Director-General said that residency permits of children can be transferred to the sponsorship of their mothers who reside in the country, as long as they meet the criteria of the dependent visa, the most important of which is a salary requirement of KD500 dinars in their work permit. It needs to be added that female teachers working in the Ministry of Education, female nursing staff in the Ministry of Health and female doctors were already allowed to sponsor their children on their residency visas.

 

SOURCE : TIMES KUWAIT

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