I am from India and working in a reputed organization here in Kuwait from June 2015 and earning well. But last year, after I reached Kuwait and completed my residency process, a new law pertaining to parents visas was enforced and this law stopped the issuance of dependent visas for parents.

My parents are completely dependent on me and since I had resigned and moved to Kuwait I couldn’t reject my offer and return to India.

Is there any possibility of getting my parents on dependent visas to Kuwait. Alhamdulillah they are very healthy and have no previous bad medical records. If they can get dependent visa through an exemption, what is the process? If they don’t get dependent visas, since a visit visa is just for a month is there a possibility to get one for 3 months? How frequently can they get visit visas?

Name withheld Answer: Currently you can’t get dependent visas for your parents but you can wait for a while as new laws (according to information reaching the press) are in the pipeline to allow dependent visas, albeit at a higher cost i.e. higher residence and health charges.

But we can’t say when these laws will finally be enacted. On the issue of visit visas, currently these are for three months for the immediate family — wife and children — and only for one month for other members of the family.

There is also an age restriction on the elders of the family — they must not have been born before 1950 (the relevant authorities are so far not applying this rule strictly… and some applications are “slipping through”). As the situation stands, these visit visas can’t be extended.

Moreover, according to the law you can apply for a second visa only after a period of six months but the Immigration Department are not very strict on the issue and sometimes except applications much before the expiry of this period.