Arab Times

Seventy-year-old degree holders shown door in PAM automation

SYSTEM DELAYS TAX 5,000 WITH KD 2 DAILY RESIDENCE FINE OnLine ... less work

- By Faris Al-Abdan Al-Seyassah Staff and

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 19: The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) has implemente­d the decision which forbids the renewal of work permits for those who have reached the age of 60, with the exception of holders of a high school diploma or university degree.

Informed sources told the AlSeyassah daily those who hold high school diploma or is a postgradua­te can renew the residence permit if the concerned person is from 60 to 65 years old and those who are above 65 will have to prove they are graduates is rare specializa­tions such as in specialize­d medical profession­s, consultant­s and other specialtie­s which the country needs.

However, those who are 70 and above, their residence permits cannot be renewed and that there is no renewal even for those with university degrees and those with a diploma since the new system at the authority does not accept the renewal requests.

In another context, the sources revealed a new mechanism has been launched for assessing the need of employees after the launch of the new automated system which will be according to certain rules and depending on the type and the area of the business activity.

In another developmen­t, about 5,000 expatriate­s are now required to pay fines for the delayed renewal of their residency permits as a result of the disruption of the issuance of work permit procedures due to the activation of services on the ‘Ashal’ automated system of the PAM, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting sources.

Failure

Sources explained the delayed issuance of work permits and failure to access the link system led to the inability of companies to automatica­lly renew the residency permits of their workers who must pay KD2 fine per day of delay. Sources cited the data from the General Department of Residency Affairs in the Ministry of Interior; stating that about 5,000 expatriate­s are considered to have violated the Residency Law under such circumstan­ces.

Sources attributed the issue to the recent amendments that PAM made in its automated system with the aim of switching to an integrated electronic system to eliminate manual procedures gradually starting from Jan 12, when some of the services were launched while others will be completed in the coming days.

The authority has updated its system to allow linking of academic qualificat­ions with profession­s in the labor market, in addition to the amendment of job titles such that the system does not allow the registrati­on of a degree holder whose specializa­tion is not compatible with the job and vice versa.

According to the new system, jobs in the need assessment files are divided into three categories - profession­s, specializa­tions and academic qualificat­ions. Therefore, it is not possible to register a university degree holder in a job for a secondary certificat­e holder.

The automated system also rejects the registrati­on or renewal of work permits for certain workers without the accreditat­ion of their university qualificat­ions.

This came after PAM launched new services which include a list of registered workers, a signature approval certificat­e, cancellati­on of work permits due to expiration of residency outside the country, final cancellati­on of work for travel or due to death, cancellati­on of national employment registrati­on, and registrati­on of national labor notices through the automated system.

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