An extension was granted to residency visa violators, allowing them to amend their status throughout December, and thus, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) is accepting violators to process their application to fix their visa status, Al Rai daily reported. To assist in the endeavor of reducing the residency visa violators, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) is working to resolve thousands of absconding cases that are a hurdle for violators for paying fines and settling their status.
A responsible source at PAM assured Al-Rai daily that it is keen to fulfill its full responsibilities, and follow-up on labor complaints, including the absconding reports submitted to not only protect the rights of workers in the private sector, but also to ensure they fulfill their obligations towards employers within the framework of laws and decisions regarding the regulations determining the labor relationship.
On the issues of absconding cases that prevent some workers from adjusting their status within the time limit granted by MOI, the source clarified that the worker submits a complaint against the absconding report. However, the absconding report will not be removed without the employer’s consent to waive the report, and only if it is registered in the authority’s system, or if the worker falls under the exemptions for disputing an absconding report without the employer’s consent.
The source pointed out that submitting a complaint without the consent of the employer is allowed for the following categories: the wife of a Kuwaiti and Gulf citizen, the spouses and children of a Kuwaiti and Gulf citizen, and Palestinians who hold legal documents, who have a court ruling in the executive form, and when the worker is transferred from Article 18, a permit to work in the private sector to Article 22, or to a family visa, on condition they have a family in Kuwait.