Dear All,

What is your experience of handling visa issues with Kuwaiti Ministry. I do believe my case is the worst one. From Aug 2006 till now, the work visa still can't be fixed. In the past half year, Every Muslim holiday( e.g. Ramadan. Eid...) will suspend my case.
I am totally frustrated, it is really irritating. Just wondering if it is common and normal in Kuwait, How long did you guys get the work visa from day one...

Sounds like they are stringing you along. Presumably you must have renewed your visit visa (if that is what you entered Kuwait on)? It may be that your company has failed to reach the required percentage of Kuwaitis on their books as required by the Kuwaitisation programme operating here - in such cases the Ministries will not give them work visas for foreigners, but sadly they don't usually bother to actually state that as the reason (they usually won't give any reason - they will just keep saying "Tomorrow! Tomorrow!!"). It is really frustrating dealing with those people, but if it's any consolation they also treat Kuwaitis the same when they visit the Ministries. The Ministries are only there to guarantee jobs to citizens who otherwise simply cannot be bothered to step out of bed in the mornings!!

Hi Siinq8,

Thanks for the consolation. I am still in my home country even my nationality can get the entry visa on arrival. My company in Kuwait did try all possibilities to sort out my work visa, the first reply from Social affair Ministry was that my degree should be attested ,the second reply was that my company need extend quota of number of staff we can sponsor. I don't know what will be the third reply...Hopefully, it is very close to get my work visa.
My company has a Mandoob(Indian ,not Kuwaiti) doing it..... is this could be a reason of my case?
I heard that in Kuwait NOTHING happens without "wasta", but my company said "NO" as it is illegal.
Yes, The officer keep saying "en shalla...", If I hear this one more time, I may do sth. crazy... But for the good money, I must be patient...
"Bureaucracy has a reputation for unresponsiveness. A great deal of patience is required in dealing with officialdom." extract from the Kuwait country profile…

Yes, you will need your degree certificate attested and that can be a pain - lots of running around. Also the quota of Kuwaitis is often an issue as I found out myself three years ago. It's normal practice for companies to use a Mandoub in such dealings, and often it depends on the 'wasta' the mandoub has, and they don;t necessarily have to be Kuwaiti to have that.

But the ministries are notoriously hard to deal with. They are staffed by low class locals who are just getting paid to sit at a desk and stamp a paper - most would rather be at home sleeping. Many companies in fact employ locals to stay at home simply so they can use their names to say they have employed their quota of locals - it's no surprise they have no incentive to actually work. I wish someone would pay be just to use my name!!! Clearly local companies have absolutly no faith in the indiginous workforce....