Kuwait to re-introduce visit-to-work permit system

Everyone knew they would change their minds, back to the old system with a little "revamping". I guess it was too much to come up with a whole new system and train people.


Kuwait to re-introduce visit-to-work permit system
Posted on 9/18/2011

Kuwait will once again allow expatriates to obtain a work permit through transferring their commercial visa by the beginning of next year, local daily reported quoting senior Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MSAL) official.

The system was suspended at the start of this month in order to introduce amendments that will impose stricter immigration criteria.

"Work is currently underway to introduce new controls and conditions for obtaining commercial visas which can prevent violations in the process of turning visas into work permits", daily reported quoting official. "The revamped procedure is expected to be allowed again by January 1, 2012," Kuwait Times daily reported.

According to the official who was not named by the daily, the condition that the applicant for a commercial visa must hold a university degree was inadequate without any verifiable proof of the qualification.

The move to stop visit to work transfer was taken as part of the ministry's efforts to reduce the number of unskilled foreign workers in order to restructure the Gulf state's population figures. The group of unskilled labourers currently forms the overwhelming majority of the population, the official said.


Maybe they should study the rules of other GCC countries like UAE and Qatar. I've seen airport visa with the employees names literally spelled backward on them ( John spelled nhoJ). Why oh why can't this country hire capable people? It's sad when the FN expats are laughing at the way the country handles these things.