60s expats in dilemma, illegal if still in country
3-month temporary reprieve
KUWAIT CITY, July 7: At a time when thousands of residents are still waiting for the ‘cancellation’ of the decision to prevent the renewal of work permits for those who have reached 60 years of age and if they are not university graduates, the suspension of issuing the new decision causes ‘confusion’ on a daily basis for labor departments because of the implementation of the decision from the beginning of this year, reports Al-Qabas daily.
Sources told the daily, the labor administrations receive requests for renewal of residence permits from people who are above 60 after their requests are rejected by the automated system, but the employees do not have a satisfactory answer to them, except for the possibility of a 3-month extension through the Ministry of Interior.
The sources added, the employees or directors of departments in the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) do not have any information about the new amendments or what is required during the coming period, and the renewal ban is still in force but the fate of those above 60 is unknown.
Affected
The Al-Qabas daily met a group of those affected by the decision, who confirmed that the continued delay in issuing the amendments confuses their lives and the future of their presence in the country, individually or even their families.
One of them said he came to Kuwait in the 1960s and lives with his family, children and grandchildren now, but there is no longer the ability to continue in light of the prevention of renewal of residence.
“During the past year, my daughter obtained admission to Kuwait University, and during the past months, I transferred her residence under the university’s sponsorship and she is now residing in the female students’ dormitory, but I will leave for home with my family.”
The same applies to two sisters who are over sixty years old, who pointed out that they own a 49 percent stake in a company, but does not comply with the condition of Article 19 of the Residence Law, which stipulates the investor must have 100,000 dinars capital. They pointed out the absence or delay of amendments delays their decision to stay or leave.
Those affected pointed out that the PAM employees say there is an option to oblige them to have a private health insurance for the elderly only, and an annual fee ranging between 100 and 500 dinars.
They stated there are dozens of people who are affected by the decision because they live in the country illegally (residence law violators) and according to the law they have automatically to pay 2 dinars per day of illegal stay and face the risk of deportation any time.
According to reliable sources, the issue is still awaiting a decision from the Minister of Commerce and Industry Dr. Abdullah Al-Salman, according to some senior sources.
Expats entry nears: Agencies operating at Kuwait International Airport are preparing to implement the Cabinet’s decision to allow the entry of expatriates who have taken two doses of approved vaccines starting from Aug 1, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting a reliable source who confirmed that the entry mechanism for expatriates will be finalized within the coming days.
The source said the airport authorities are waiting for their upcoming meeting with the Ministry of Health officials in order to address many issues, such as the procedures excluded from the recent decisions. These procedures include increasing the number of arrivals from 3,500 to 5,000 passengers and the number of flights; as well as easing some travel restrictions, the source added.
On June 17, the Council of Ministers announced several decisions like allowing citizens to travel and the entry of non-Kuwaitis provided they have taken two doses of any of the approved vaccines -- Pfizer, AstraZeneca-Oxford and Moderna; or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. They are required to present proof showing negative result of PCR test taken 72 hours before arrival in the country and then undergo another PCR test during the home quarantine period of seven days after arrival.