Transfer to family visa permitted

KUWAIT CITY, Feb 20: The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) says the authority has started implementing a decision not to renew work permits of expatriates after reaching the age 70 regardless of their job title or profession, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources.

The sources added PAM is in a process of not granting work permits after two or three years for those who have reached the age of 65 years.

The source added, however, it is possible for these people to transfer their residence permit to family visa in line with the regulations set by the General Administration of Residence Affairs in the Ministry of Interior.

No Amnesty
The government has no plans to issue amnesty for violators of residence law because a large number of violators take advantage to circumvent the law, reports Al-Rai daily quoting a reliable government source.

The source stressed the violators will be arrested and deported from the country and will be barred from entering Kuwait or any Gulf state for five years.

The source pointed it has become clear that many violators are using different methods to escape from their sponsors and work for others for a period of time and sometimes earn a lot of money and wait for the government to issue amnesty for residence law violators to leave the country without paying fines.

He source pointed out from time to time the government has been giving the violators an opportunity to rectify their situations, but some prefer to be deported to escape paying the fine, and then return to the country or go to work in another Gulf country.

The source singled out domestic workers who flee from their sponsors, especially before Ramadan when the demand for domestic workers is high and some are even hired on hourly basis.

The source added the security authorities in 2018 offered amnesty for residence violators to rectify their situations and violators were given a grace period and exempted from paying fines, but at the moment there is no such plan for another amnesty.

The source stated the measures taken by the security authorities through continuous raids, field tours and erecting security checkpoints had contributed to reducing the number residence law violators to about 120,000.