Kuwait Times, Thu, Dec 14, 2023 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 1, 1445
All types of visas to open soon
Kuwait:
Interior Minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled
Al-Sabah on Wednesday promised to open all types of visas for expats, especially
dependent visas, following the approval of amendments to the residence law by
the National Assembly next week, a lawmaker said. MP Abdulwahab Al-Essa, head of
the Assembly’s committee entrusted to improve the business environment in the
country, said the minister’s pledge came after a meeting with him during which
he explained major problems facing expats and local businesses because of the
long closure of visas.
Essa said he has received many complaints from the private sector about the
adverse impact of stopping dependent visas for expats on the market and expats
themselves. He added he asked the Assembly for permission to study the impact of
freezing dependent visas and other visas on the private sector, small businesses
and the market in general.
“We have found that Kuwait has become a swamp of expat single men, as
high-qualified and skilled people have deserted the country as a result of the
freezing of dependent visas,” Essa said in a statement. Skilled expats working
in Kuwait were readily and immediately leaving Kuwait whenever they got any job
opportunity in other Gulf states or anywhere else “because no expat is prepared
to continue living here without their wives and children”, he said. “So, expats
left here are mostly the ones not needed by other countries,” the lawmaker
explained.
Essa said the closure of visas has also triggered a shortage of manpower,
leading to a rise in the cost of manpower and eventually negatively impacting
the cost of construction. He said he took all these complaints to the interior
minister during the meeting. “I told him directly that decisions on residency
issues in Kuwait should not only take into consideration security and military
factors. The economic factor must play an important role in those decisions,” he
said.
“The minister was very understanding and promised me that after the National
Assembly approves (amendments to) the residency law in the next session (Dec
19-20), and once they become effective, the minister will scrap all restrictions
on the issuance of visas in Kuwait,” Essa said. Lifting restrictions will not
only include family visas, but will reopen the country and bring commercial life
back to normal, he said.
The lawmaker also said he met with the head of the Assembly’s interior and
defense committee, which is studying amendments to the residency law, and he was
promised the draft law will be ready for debate on Dec 19-20.
Meanwhile, MP Mohannad Al-Sayer criticized on Wednesday ministers for not
speeding up the replacement of expats in government jobs with Kuwaitis. He said
ministers told him that they have dismissed many expat advisors but they have
failed to appoint Kuwaitis in their places. He called on them to speed up the
process to create more jobs for citizens.
During Wednesday’s session, MPs debated a draft law calling on the government to
establish a state-owned advanced manufacturing holding company based on oil. MPs
said the company will provide Kuwait with a new source of income to help the
country diversify its sources of income, which currently heavily depends on oil.
The company is also expected to create many new jobs for Kuwaiti citizens.
MP Marzouq Al-Ghanem said the draft law aims to oblige the government to
establish the project, and since the government has failed in implementing the
idea, it is bound to fail in implementing the project. He added the government
should be held accountable for its failures. Oil Minister Saad Al-Barrak said
the government agrees to the draft law in principle and will submit its
amendments to the legislation on Thursday. MPs then approved the draft law in
the first reading and the second and final round of votes is expected after two
weeks.
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