New bylaws were passed yesterday that now allow some businesses to operate legally with a license from their homes (aka home business). There are some requirements to obtain this license including the following:
– Kuwaitis only can apply for a home license
– Must be older than 21 years old
– You need permission from the home owner
– The license is mostly for services such as designers, calligraphist, illustrators, photographers, web and app developers, watchmakers, gardeners, technicians, event planners, translators, museums, and so on.
– No cupcakes, or burgers or any other food businesses can be licensed from homes
The Ministry of Commerce does not want to turn residential areas into commercial areas, they still want homes to be homes but a lot of businesses don’t involve a lot of interaction with customers or require customers to come over and so it doesn’t make sense that those businesses require a commercial space. The ministry has stated that the above law will come into effect first day after Eid.
I want to dedicate this post to my dear friend Ahmed Al Gharabally who recently passed away. Ahmed was a lobbyist and an activist that worked really hard on bringing this law to life through @legalizekw, a campaign that was launched to make home business in Kuwait legal. May you RIP Ahmed. It is great to see young Kuwaitis actively suggest new laws, and the new and young minister of commerce and industry Mr. Khaled Al Roudhan has done a wonderful job listening to their suggestions and attending their events.
For any legal inquiries, please email me on [email protected] and my team or I will get back to you within 24 hours.
Post by Fajer Ahmed – Legal Counsel
The legal opinions expressed in this post are those of the author Fajer. Opinions expressed by Mark or any other writer on mark248am1.wpenginepowered.com are those of the individual’s and in no way reflect Fajer’s opinion.
20 replies on “Kuwait Law: Home Businesses Can Now Be Licensed”
Can u explain the relation between the 1st picture and the post, plz?
home office = home business
#Petty
Is there somewhere we can see the full list of types of businesses that can be licensed? For example e-commerce sites selling products?
But does that mean registered employees qualify for social allowance with this licence?
This man is asking the real questions.
Serious though, can a person qualify for social allowance with this licence with a “legitimate” “home business”, paging the Lawer in this website.
Is one of the requirement to be unemployed in both private and public sectors? As in, jobless?
Hey Mark, I heard about Ahmed Al-Gharabally. I attended AUK like in 2008 and I’ve been out of Kuwait for oat least 6 years?
is that the same Ahmed Al-Gharabally from AUK during that period?
If anyone can confirm please do so, I have no connections to people in Kuwait that could clear that up for me.
Thank you
no idea, click his name it will take you to his instagram
I’m gonna assume it was him, thanks for the information Mark.
Hi,
No the Ahmed were talking about didn’t go to Auk.
He went to Sharjah for university but he was quite involved in Kuwait after he did graduate though.
He’s a second cousin that’s how I’d know. Hope that helps…
Welcome to the 21st Century Kuwait.
Got to say Mark, bringing Fajer as contributor was the best thing that ever happened to this blog. As someone who’s absolutely clueless about the world of law, her posts have been a great help.
But how many aquamas will be granted? Will so many be granted per square meter of the home?
And what if multiple people own the home?
And watch making?
FAJER?
Does this have any benefits to the local freelancer or is it just so freelancers get taxed based on their work?
Businesses aren’t taxed in kuwait. The only tax we pay is the import tax which applies to everyone.
KSCC companies are, they call it kfas and zakat though haha
It’s tremendously important because it’s impossible to run a fully functional business at home without legal status.
As you know without a CR you cannot advertise, you cannot open a business bank account or enter into legal agreements with other companies.
“For any legal inquiries, please email me on [email protected] and my team or I will get back to you within 24 hours.” I sent an email 21 days ago, still no teply
i want to open small business,
sir i need a shop for rent
sir please tell me how sir
please give me advice sir
i am for India
i am living in Kuwait ( 4 years )