½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Menu
½ûÂþÌìÌÃ
Search
Magazine
Search

New Expat Law in Kuwait

skylinei

Sponsorship system to be taken away in February
It will be a real help for the expats living in Kuwait

See also

Living in Kuwait: the expat guideLooking to connect with someonemedical failure - deport and life time GCC ban?Squash playersMost common scams in Kuwait
Yud

Hello skylinei ;)

I have moved your discussion to the Kuwait forum for a better visibility.

Can you please elaborate a bit further on the New Expat Law issue, I have not understood it well.

Warm Regards :)

khaye

yes, what do you mean that taking away sponsorship for expats are real help?

skylinei

This means that the people working in kuwait under visa18 won't need a sponsor here after the new law becomes active

khaye

skylinei wrote:

This means that the people working in kuwait under visa18 won't need a sponsor here after the new law becomes active


oh really? Well that is good new. But where did you get this information? please attach your source here so we can check it.

Moo

hope they do it.

RedJayBird

Unfortunately this has been said many times by the Ministry for several years and again and again it has been pushed back.
Sponsors get too much money for this service, it is not a requirement that will be dismissed lightly.

..just don't get your hopes up of this ACTUALLY happening.

legacy

RJB stole the words right out of my mouth; there is no way Kuwait will get rid of the sponsorship system. Kuwait is a transient country, witha  population of 1.12million (who will each be getting almost 2,250KD come february national and liberation days) and 2.56million expats. expats cant own property, so the only way to live is to rent, to rent you need a salary, to have a salary you need a job, to have a job, you need a sponsor.

i think the law is mainly for people who want to run their own businesses. but you will still be sponsored by your company, and to change jobs you will need them to sign you off.

expats are allowed to buy property in dubai for example, and if u own an apartment over a certain value, upon leaving your job you can still get a visit visa for 6 months period.

there used to be a practice in which the sponsoring company held the passports of their employees; this should have been abolished as it is modern day slavery, but there are still companies that do it, even tho its been outlawed.

so yes, dont get your hopes up. the system works fairly well, ive switched jobs twice with no hassle in the past 5 years ive been working here.

legacy

also consider this; some nationalities can land in kuwait and purhase a 3-month visit visa at the airport, the rest have to have relatives of the first degree here (mother, brother, father, sister etc) in order to get in, or have commercial visas i.e. sponsorship.

its a viscious cycle that needs more study than what they did to implement kink-free.

Moo

legacy wrote:

RJB stole the words right out of my mouth; there is no way Kuwait will get rid of the sponsorship system. Kuwait is a transient country, witha  population of 1.12million (who will each be getting almost 2,250KD come february national and liberation days) and 2.56million expats. expats cant own property, so the only way to live is to rent, to rent you need a salary, to have a salary you need a job, to have a job, you need a sponsor.

i think the law is mainly for people who want to run their own businesses. but you will still be sponsored by your company, and to change jobs you will need them to sign you off.

expats are allowed to buy property in dubai for example, and if u own an apartment over a certain value, upon leaving your job you can still get a visit visa for 6 months period.

there used to be a practice in which the sponsoring company held the passports of their employees; this should have been abolished as it is modern day slavery, but there are still companies that do it, even tho its been outlawed.

so yes, dont get your hopes up. the system works fairly well, ive switched jobs twice with no hassle in the past 5 years ive been working here.


Also to open your own company you must have a citizen partner and should own 50% of the company, I think such these laws will make Kuwait not attractive to foreigner investor.

Julien

Moo, could you please avoid very long quotes ? thanks

Moo

Alright Julien.Thanks :)

legacy

not to mention taxes on foreign establishments (i worked in an audit co. as a tax auditor, i know what im talkin about)

i think they will say if the foreigner has enough paid-in capital, he can venture on his own without a kuwaiti partner, who is more often than not a silent partner at best.

like we said, there are too many kinks to iron out to abolish the sponsorship system. it cannot be done overnight, or without atleast a test run prior to first launch.