I have been working with an organization as an engineer for the past 1.7 years. I locally transferred from Article 20 to Article 18 (i.e., Khadim to Shoon) on August 2014 on salary of KD 200.

From that day onward, till now, I have not received any other benefits like salary increment, annual leave salary etc.

So I would like to transfer my residence to other company, because they are offering a good package with benefits.

Now my questions are:

1. Can I transfer my residence before completing 3 years (because my company says I can’t transfer before years as I locally transferred from Article 20 to 18) to the new company?

2. I have an attested engineer’s degree certificate which includes attestation by the various Indian and Kuwait authorities … can be these helpful in my transfer

3. How can I get my benefits from my company if I get transferred?

Please help me to get out of this bad situation.

Name withheld

Answer: Well, your employer is right and you can’t be transferred to another company — according to the latest decision on the issue — until you have completed three years with your current employer.

This is true for all expatriates who have transferred from a domestic residence (Article 20) to a work permit (Article 18).

Such transfers consider the employee as if he has been hired from abroad, regardless of any university degrees he may be holding. In view of the above it is meaningless to answer the rest of your questions.