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‘Sixty’ decision not applicable to those outside the country
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4,013 expatriates victims of 60s decision
In its ruling issued on Thursday, 7 October, the Cabinet’s Fatwa and Legislation Committee announced that there is no legal basis to ban work permits for expatriates 60 years and over in age who only hold high school diplomas and below, and accordingly cancelled the earlier decision issued to this effect by the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM).
The announcement spread a wave of relief among people in the category and among their family members, as well as with their employers. For more than a year since the law banning anyone aged 60 and over who did not hold a university degree or diploma from renewing their visas, was announced by PAM, people who fell in this category were in a predicament, especially those who had spent a significant portion of their lives in this country and had set up family and social circles here.
The Thursday’s ruling roundly criticized PAM authorities and in particular its Director-General Ahmed Al-Mousa for exceeding their mandated authority. The committee found the Director-General of PAM in breach of his authority, for issuing rules and procedures on work visas, which were not within his purview. The fatwa noted that the decision issued by the Director-General in August 2020 was not legal, as it was issued by someone who is not competent to issue it.
The earlier decision created a lot of public outcry and market instability with several sections of society calling for the decision to be reversed. In particular, the Minister of Commerce and Industry(MOCI), Dr. Abdullah Al-Salman, who voiced his strong displeasure over the actions taken by the PAM in this regard, and in September end issued a decision curtailing a number of powers of the Director-General of PAM. He also referred the matter to the Cabinet’s Fatwa and Legislation Committee, which then issued Thursday’s ruling.
Opposition to the decision also came from the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), with its Chairman Muhammad Jassim Al-Saqer requesting His Highness the Prime Minister to intervene and rescind the law. In his ruling, Announcing the decision on Thursday, the head of the Fatwa and Legislation Department, Counselor Salah Al-Masad, said that the PAM erred in its decision, as it was issued based on an earlier canceled decision, which made it legally untenable.
Those who have been granted temporary visas will now be able to transfer this visa to a permanent one, subject to fees and rules that are yet to be announced. However, the status of the more than 4,000 people in this category who were forced out of the country since the law began to be enforced on 1 January of this year is not covered by the new Fatwa.
Legal opinion holds that a distinction needs to be made between those in the country who are 60 and over in age, whose residence can now be renewed whenever the door opens for renewal, and those whose residency has been revoked and are now outside the country.
