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‘KD 250 To Burden Expats’ - ‘Employer Must Pay Guarantee’
‘KD 250 To Burden Expats’ - ‘Employer Must Pay Guarantee’


According to Arab Times “the issuance of work permits is expected to be reopened by mid-April after the new decision related to financial guarantee of KD 250 is implemented, informed sources say.

They explained that laborers planning to come to Kuwait to work would have to obtain this financial guarantee.

While submitting the application for a new work permit, the employer will have to sign a pledge to present the guarantee because the work permit will not be issued unless that guarantee is presented” (Arab Times, April 8, 2015).

Requiring local employers like private individuals or companies to present a financial guarantee for issuing new work permits might have been implemented in order to curb visa trading. However, requiring 250 KD as a financial guarantee might also burden prospective workers. In other words, the individual who will be required to submit the financial guarantee might be the prospective expat employee, and not necessarily their new sponsor! Therefore, this new procedure may increase the financial burdens on our expatriate friends and partners.

Moreover, I would suggest that the government should put in place a new procedure, which ensures that new expat workers do not have to pay the financial guarantee. Their local employer should pay the money and not the worker.

However, in order to remedy this ambiguous and potentially exploitative situation, the Public Authority for Manpower should put in place certain guarantees that can protect expatriate workers against future exploitation. I would even urge the government to put more incentives for serious local employers in order to improve our economy. One of the incentives, which can improve our local economy, is to reduce the number of bureaucratic procedures required of expatriate workers.

An expat professional or laborer needs to work in a clear working environment: he or she needs to know exactly, and beforehand, what is required of them as soon as they arrive in Kuwait. Whatever we do as Kuwaitis, we need to remember that hundreds of thousands of expats who live and work in Kuwait choose willingly to work in our country.

Many of these hard working and law-abiding expats have already spent a lot of money in order to find jobs in Kuwait. Some expats might have had to pawn or make use of their live savings in their home country in order to obtain a work contract in Kuwait.

Therefore, increasing the financial burdens on newly arrived expats does not solve our problem with those illegals who violate our immigration laws. A new expat who arrives for the first time in Kuwait needs to feel that our country does actually provide a welcoming environment to our expatriate friends and partners.

Putting any extra financial burdens on expats does not necessarily eradicate the problem of visa or work permit trading. What will improve our economy and protect our national security against illegals is to provide a save track to those who are willing to work legally in Kuwait.


Source:Arabtimesonline



http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/214745/reftab/36/Default.aspx

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