Kuwait will again allow expatriates who are 60 years old and older to obtain a work permit, the Minister of Justice and Minister of State for “Nazaha” Boosting Affairs Jamal Al-Jalawai announced, Kuwait state news agency KUNA reported.
The decision this week ends a months-long debate in Kuwait following a 2020 ruling in which Kuwaiti officials banned renewing work permits for those who are over 60 years old and those who hold only a secondary school certificate or less.
During the ban, around 4,000 expatriates were pushed out of the labour market due to their age.
Expatriates who are 60 or above who hold a high school degree or a lower educational degree can obtain the permit which will be issued for KD250 ($826). Workers must have full health insurance from one of the Boursa Kuwait-listed insurance companies.
Husbands of Kuwaiti women, children of Kuwaiti female citizens, and wives of Kuwaitis and Palestinians who hold residency documents are also eligible for the visa.
The new visa will be issued for a one-year period “and will be revised within this period according to the labour market conditions,” KUNA reported.
From June 2020 to June 2021, Kuwait’s labour market lost more than 253,000 migrant workers when Kuwait suspend issuance of all visas during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Kuwait’s Society for Human Rights.
The country has sought to increase its share of nationals in the workforce, especially in the private sector, and decrease its reliance on foreign labour. According to the 49th issue of the Economic Report from the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK), the government sector employs 81 percent of the Kuwaiti workforce, “clearly causing budgetary inflation and further spreading bureaucracy, poor performance, low productivity and disguised unemployment”.
Kuwait’s economy is in a glut, with a budget deficit of nearly 175 percent for the 2020-2021 financial year.
Follow us on
