Kuwait City, 6th July 2022:
Work permit to be issued in 10 days instead of 3 months as part of new mechanism
Kuwait’s labour authorities are working on a set of measures to quicken issuance of work permits for workers recruited from abroad to ensure the permits are available in 10 days instead of three months at present, a Kuwaiti newspaper has reported.
Al Rai, citing sources at the Public Authority of Manpower (PAM), said a proposed mechanism involves coordination with accredited hospitals in the countries from which the workers are recruited to shorten the duration of medical checks to four days including two in the home country and two others following arrival in Kuwait.
“The period needed for issuing the work permit will be cut to one week or 10 days instead of the current duration that may exceed three months since the worker is examined in the home country until entering Kuwait and the conduct of post-arrival checks,” the sources said.
The PAM board of directors is poised to look into the proposed mechanism aimed at expediting checks for the overseas workers, thus ending queues at expatriate examination centres, they added.
Should the mechanism be approved, its implementation will be optional, though.
“Fees for checks according to the new mechanism will be higher than the current ones,” the sources said, adding that fee estimates are not made yet pending a meeting of government agencies concerned.
Kuwait has seen a shortage of foreign workers due to pandemic-induced restrictions.