Kuwait Times, Monday, Aug 16, 2021 | Muharram 7, 1443
Kuwait mulls KD 1,000 visa fee for 60+ residents
Kuwait:
Today is the first
anniversary of a controversial decision by the Director of Public Authority for
Manpower (520/2020) on the rules and procedures for granting work permits, which
included a ban on issuing permits to those who reach the age of 60 and do not
hold a university degree. But the Cabinet is strongly behind a humanitarian
solution to the problem that was created by the abovementioned decision,
according to government sources.
The same sources, who were quoted anonymously by Al-Qabas Arabic newspaper
yesterday, said the decision the Cabinet supports will reduce the fees on this
category of residents by 50 percent, so the maximum annual fee will be KD 1,000
per individual instead of KD 2,000.
This will include the state’s fee expected to be not more than KD 500, and the
same or less for insurance that will cover all medical treatments in the private
sector. They said the KD 500 cost for the insurance policy is due to the high
medical costs of the age groups of 60 and above, in addition to the types of
treatment private hospitals will offer through this category of insurance.
Ministry of labor?
In other news, the same newspaper reported yesterday that the government is
contemplating establishing a new ministerial portfolio called the “ministry of
labor”. Government sources quoted in the report said the ministry would oversee
the local labor market and employment of Kuwaitis in the public and private
sectors. The sources said the study for establishing the portfolio seeks to
adopt one of two options – both aiming at employing Kuwaitis.
They said the first choice is to include the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and
Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) while maintaining the administrative
structures of both entities to organize the workforce, while creating
cooperation in their plans towards organizing the local marketplace. This option
was discussed previously but was not approved, and it has surfaced again lately.
The second option is to include CSC, PAM and the higher education ministry. The
sources said the portfolio will be under one minister, adding this option will
be the cornerstone for organizing the local labor market and having higher
education graduates that can meet its needs.