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Kuwait

Deporting Skilled Expats Over 60 Years Old

Last year, the government announced that expats over the age of 60 who have a secondary degree or below will have to leave the country. Supposedly this will help solve the demographic imbalance that has resulted in expats currently making up 70 percent of the population. A lot of people didn’t think this decision was that big of a deal and maybe I’m a bit guilty of that as well. But recently I started realizing who those people being forced to leave would be and now I’m pretty pissed about it.

What I didn’t realize or at least took time to realize is that just because you don’t have a college degree it doesn’t mean you don’t have any skill or experience.

A few weeks ago when I was shopping for a sound system I had such a great experience interacting with a salesman who knew his stuff. I hate dealing with salespeople usually because most don’t know what they’re talking about and are just trying to make a sale but this person I dealt with was an older guy with a lot of experience because he had been working in this field for a long time. I then found out he was going to have to leave this year because he was over 60 and they couldn’t renew his visa.

The video on top is a short piece by AlQabas TV on Souq Safafeer, the metal market in the city. If you ignore the fact that the reporter wasn’t wearing a mask and skip to minute 6 in the video, the reporter interviews a metalworker who’s been in Kuwait since the 50s and is now being forced to leave because of the new rule. He doesn’t have a college degree but he has a skill that we’re now losing.

And we’re going to be losing a lot more of these experienced and skilled people that don’t have any degrees. Could be your favorite barber or the best welder in your company, expats who have been working for a very long time and have become the best at what they do and now have to leave because they don’t have degrees.

Forget the fact that some people like the old metalworker in the video above has been living in Kuwait for nearly 60 years and now is being told he needs to start a new life somewhere else. That’s a messed up thing by itself but put that aside for now, how does it benefit Kuwait if we are kicking out the most skilled and experienced people? I don’t get it.

This post reminded me of the old photographer in the city who I posted about years ago. His story was slightly different, he moved to Kuwait in the 50s as a teenager after running away from an abusive father in Lebanon and had been living in Kuwait as a photographer ever since. He never left Kuwait, not even for a vacation. When I first met him he was having anxiety because his residency had expired and he had trouble reaching his sponsor and was worried he would have to leave the country. He was around 80 years old with no family, home, or anything outside of Kuwait. With this new rule, he would have been forced to leave. Totally messed up.

60 replies on “Deporting Skilled Expats Over 60 Years Old”

Your a guest and they allow you in there kitchen and now they want you out, house rules fair game I accept the rules, all expats where never a part because you don’t have a path to a green card system, so I advise the young people to leave now and find a better place that will host you and accept you into society with open arms and can develop the skill, because now it’s the old people turn and this is what they got after a few years it’s your turn. Your not Welcome anymore in the kitchen so time to leave, this is for everyone your turn is next sooner or later, leave in dignity now when you have a choice or your fate will be the same down the road, sad truth but the reality.

I am a very highly skilled professional that the country needs my skill as my profession is a hand full in the country, I saw it coming so I decided to pack up as I won’t dedicate my skills and life when I know after a few years you will be shown the door so better to give my skills somewhere else.

I was welcomed in open arms where I am now and a much better future for the family.

Is it really their kitchen if you helped build this kitchen? Just because of some stupid nationality claim that barely even existed when these people came to Kuwait? These skilled workers probably contributed more towards it than the average Kuwaiti does. Can’t be justified IMO.
Also, that whole claim of fighting the demographic imbalance is nonsense, Kuwaitis won’t be taking up the jobs they’re doing so they’ll just get replaced by new expats.

Very valid point, corruption in the PAM is what’s driving decisions like this to keep trading more visas for more newer expats to come in instead of just renewing existing one who have been here for a long time.

Think about it, why do phone companies tend to constantly upgrade their phones and make older software obsolete? to get you to buy new phones every so often instead of holding on to your current one.

Apparently expat visa trade is a big contributor to gulf economy most notably in kuwait, if they really wanted to solve the demographic imbalance they would have targeted the illegal workers in jleeb and mahboula etc.

But now the problem is once the expats loose their visa in Kuwait they won’t try again there instead they try abroad…it is easier to get visa abroad and most of the young expats don’t dream Kuwait instead they go abroad….If kuwait continues to throw expats like this they’ll suffer the consequences for sure by God.

It is there kitchen, they invited you over and you have a choice to accept or refuse, I decided to leave as I won’t help them build the country and then after few years I get into this same situation so I decided to leave, and you have the choice if what you see if not suitable do as I did and I would to see all the highly skilled persons to leave let’s see how they going to continue. It’s going to get rough in the coming months and years…

Yes I understand that that is the situation for expats now, but that wasn’t the situation back when many of these 60+ years olds came. Nationality back then was by far not as important as it has become now. You can’t justify kicking people out that have lived and contributed all their lives, just to replace them with new expats.
Especially when you justify it by fixing the demography imbalance. Want to fix that? Have Kuwaiti’s take their jobs.

Also, I am reading the argument below here that “they came here for a better salary than in their own country” – this never ever justifies inhumane treatment, just because they are getting a slightly better salary (which often times is still very low in a country that has enough wealth to establish minimum salaries).

Stop normalising the lack of rights expats have just because their conditions forced them to come.

As for expats now, being aware of the whole nationality thing, I would agree that yes you can decide for yourself to make a life there or elsewhere. But then again, what about the expats born and raised in Kuwait? It is not easy to leave your whole family behind just because the country so clearly doesn’t want you, no matter how you contribute.

This is true. I was born and raised in Kuwait to Indian parents, consider it my birthplace, and was my home. Unfortunately I was still a “hindi” and eventually left for the US. I was sad to leave, but my parents thought it was best that my siblings and I did. My grandparents were in Kuwait, my dad was born in Kuwait, and so was I, but we were still third class non-citizens in the average Kuwaitis eye.

Two decades later, it was the best decisions my parents made. We are all doing well, live good lives, and are treated as equals unlike the “hindiyas” we would’ve continued to be in Kuwait.

That being said, I dont regret coming from Kuwait. Our lives were enriched by Kuwait, I will always have a place for Kuwait in my heart, but so glad that part of my life is history.

You must understand that you chosen to come here to work, as an employee, not as a citizen. And you probably got paid better than your own Country/Other choices, or you wouldn’t have bothered coming. So don’t try to talk as if you got used, or people here are ungrateful. So like any employee, there is a time you must retire to open a place for new people/employees, Kuwaitis or other expats. There is simply no place for everyone around the world to come and stay here forever, as this tiny country simply doesn’t have the infrastructure. If you hate from where you came from and want to change your citizenship, this is an another issue, try going to Canada or USA.

” If you hate from where you came from and want to change your citizenship, this is an another issue, try going to Canada or USA”

And hence the shitshow occuring in the US with the rise of anti-immigrant feelings.

Simply put a brake on visa trading and wasta. 60 yrs or more becomes irrelevant. There’s a lot of much younger trash in the country that could be got rid of. After all, 60 is just a number.
Even more than it needs skilled expats Kuwait needs an unskilled labor force even more for all the things Kuwaitis simply won’t do, even if their life depended on it. The electricians, the plumbers, carpenters, construction workers, house help, cooks, sanitary workers and drivers- will you all please stand up…

Invalidating requests for Birth nationality is really not unique to Kuwait . Many countries including Australia give nationality to a child only if at least one of their parents is a naturalized citizen at the time of birth .

Yes, but those countries allow you to become citizens if you assimilate or integrate into society later on as an adult. The whole argument in Kuwait is that even if you integrate, you were told as an adult expat that whatever you are still a guest. But that doesn’t apply to children born in Kuwait. You can’t tell a one year old to “be a guest”.

In Australia, once the child becomes an adult, he has pathways to become Australian if he or she is integrated into society. That does not exist for anyone in Kuwait children or otherwise. But for adult expat at least you can “well… You were always a guest”. What will you say to a child?

“Hey, well your parents came to Kuwait, had you in Kuwait, failed to maintain your emotional connection to your country of origin and now you have to leave Kuwait at age 21 even though you have integrated/assimilated into Kuwaiti society”

When the Lebanese man came into the “Kitchen” at a time (in the 50s) when it was actually a possibility to gain Kuwaiti citizenship.

You would say that it was only a “possibility”. But this is true everywhere. There are people who were living on Green Card in the US for years who, when Trump signed into order the “Muslim ban” even banned those citizens on the banned list who were holders of Green Card but vacationing aboard (https://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/28/politics/green-card-donald-trump-travel-ban/index.html). Of course, this was later reversed. They too were brought into the US with the “possibility” of US citizenhsip which was stripped from them. In a similar fashion, the possibility of Kuwaiti citizenship was stripped from the Lebanese man in the 80s/90s when nationality laws were made stricter.

All of these do not account of children born to expats in the “Kitchen”. they did not choose to be born in the “Kitchen” and they had no control on building ties to the “Kitchen”. Expat parents have a moral, but not legal, responsibilty to strengthen their local-born children’s ties to their country of nationality.

This Kitchen analogy has gone on for to long haha

That’s messed up, not every skilled person here has a college degree and should be based on service and experience.If anything these older workers are better than introducing a truckload of newer inexperienced workers that will be more draining on the economy. Also if they have to leave, they should at least take care of them somehow like maybe issue them with retirement pay for a set no. of years to make the relocation easier.

The reality that older ex-pats are a burden on the health system and the example you highlighted are rare ones with established work and stable life.
it a very sad story but the government ignored this problem for decades

the easy solution would be charge such expats more for healthcare. literally a one-sentence solution.

and while i’ve heard that older expats are a burden on the health system, i have never seen any statistics to back up that claim.

Most expats who are over 60 and still reside in kuwait are the ones who have established themselves and make a good living and raise their family here, as most marginal workers tend to leave way before that, who came here just to make some money for a few years, while over 60 are people who were mostly born here or have been here for a VERY long time.

Most being garage/shop owners etc.

This will actually have a more negative effect on the kuwaiti business partners who rely on them for renting shops and houses.

And regarding the burden on the healthcare, most of these people get their healthcare in private hospitals and even if it were so, just adding more health insurance for people over 60 is more beneficial to kuwait than deporting them.

My dear Esko,

This is precisely how universal healthcare works. The young pay for the old.

Also, lets not call old people a burden. It is simply the circle of life.

Does anyone the latest rules on sponsoring your parents who are above 60? Is it allowed?

Cheers !

This is a knee-jerk reaction to a politically difficult problem that no one wants to take responsibility for.

let’s be clear: this will not solve the so-called demographic problem because every skilled 60+ age expat will be replaced by three 20-year-old unskilled expats. this will create a “bachelor-state” and will cost both businesses and the state more money. this WILL regress kuwait.

Bill Gates can’t get a work permit in kuwait. think about that. one of the smartest and richest people in the world is prevented from working in kuwait because they don’t have a university degree.

I have heared that this desicion is still being talked about and exceptions or cancelations are being considered.
Anyone with any info and what is going on? Have they started canceling the work permits?

Such a sad thing to hear that people who have been so loyal to this country, provided so much for so many years are being treated like this where the real cause of the demographic imbalance, the illegal workers and visa buyers are still roaming in the streets freely.

This is fate Mark … Like ” Skilled Expat said; the writing is on the wall, it has been there since the very beginning.

You are never going to be granted permanent residency nor citizenship. Its just not going to happen.

For those of us who are 2nd or even 3rd generation expats who have given their youth and time to this country and never left thinking Kuwait was home; we need to accept this, prepare for it and move on. .

For those who are blessed with youth, have a skill or talent but dont have a degree or a piece of paper to back it up ; all I can say is best of luck to you. Try not to waste it developing it or honing it in Kuwait. Move if you can somewhere where you will be accepted and be allowed to become a part of society where you can contribute your skills and talents to the betterment of that community.

Because if you continue wearing rose colored glasses thinking all will be well and that eventually things will change down the road and you will be accepted and become a Kuwaiti citizen or permanent resident then you are dreaming and will end up being the loser here.

When the clock strikes 12 on your 60th birthday and you dont have papers its time for you to get the FUCK out of Kuwait. As simple as that .There is no fuzzy wuzzy curl up by the fire retire and be home with the grand kids scenario for you in Kuwait. You either have the paper work to renew your residence permit or have kids that have fat salaries to support you as a dependent . Doesn’t matter if you are the best at what you do or that you have been here since the time camels roamed freely everywhere you looked .. You dont have the paper work to stay or the people to support you .. so you leave.

For those of you will say.. well I am young .. I have the paper work, I have a degree so I am gonna stay put . Well all I can say is good for you and best of luck to you as well .. stay . But just keep one thing in mind, the writing is on the wall. Thats never going to change and in Kuwait where the rules change every time dont be surprised if some new rule pops up that will make you also leave against your choice.

In the end just remember this… You are an EXPAT, you WILL grow old and you WILL be asked to leave .eventually either that or you WILL end up in the ground in Sulabhikat on the EXPAT side of the cemetery

Now it is 60, in the near future the “ smart genius “ who came out with the rule will wake up one day and change it to 50 years, then probably 40. There are no rules and no stability decisions are made irrationally any planning whatsoever depends on the mood swing the guy is having. And for the new expats coming in try getting a license to drive that’s a nightmare (most basic right in any country in the world ) in K-town it’s not, why because the expats cause traffic, no thought is given that the world and nations are developing and the 1980s roads need to develop and expand to accommodate population growth and business expansion of the nation, answer is no it’s the expat fault he causes traffic, they want empty roads, so I ask every expat to leave you have better choices else where the world is big enough and can accommodate the 3 million expats of Kuwait. You have a choice now leave with dignity while you still can.

“how does it benefit Kuwait if we are kicking out the most skilled and experienced people?”

Quite the opposite, Kuwait is going to face long-term economic setbacks more than it already does by not having citizens who practice skilled technical trades. Skilled labor is difficult to train since it relies on time-intensive on-the-job training. It takes decades getting the less educated skilled labor interested and subscribe to Practice Standards, QA/QC, and HSE regulations. Many of which learn these trades on the job and learn to respect and appreciate practice standards after they witness first hand why the precautions and regulations matter. They slowly develop the wisdom of a mentor or they learn after a few missing fingers. It’s not just the skilled labor industry that experiences technical brain drain either, most technical jobs in Kuwait do including the A&E industry where skilled draftpeople and master builders are forced to leave.

This reminds me of a project I worked on around ten years ago where we wanted to develop architecture that respects the environment and landscape and which could be constructed without the use of more modern and expensive materials such as steel and concrete. Using mud bricks and ancient construction techniques to develop more ecologically sustainable construction practices, which makes sense for houses and chalets that are meant to be temporary dwellings. The project never saw the light of day because we couldn’t get approvals for the visas of the skilled Egyptian master builders who had worked with Architect Hassan Fathy on his architecture for the poor experiment.

If Kuwait had citizens who practiced these trades, they could uphold the standards required to raise the quality of these industries, setup unions or societies to protect the rights of the skilled, increase wages and quality of life over time, and document their practices and techniques to bolster the applied education curriculum using real-world experience.

But as always, we are in need of strong leaders with long term visions and strong planning. Sometimes I wonder if Kuwait’s citizens and legislators understand that they’re paying for the vocational training and development of the citizens of other countries and then deporting them when they just start getting genuinely creative and confident enough to start teaching their trade to masses.

its such a stupid decision…..why would you want to replace older, calmer, skilled, qualified people who are already here and who are familiar with the country, with younger, probably single newcomers?

Kuwait government literally has no respect for human beings. They made Kuwait the most heartless, cruel and inhumane country in the world. I’m Kuwaiti and this breaks my heart. The government is so evil. This law just targets hard-working old expats who have been living in Kuwait longer than most 60+ year old Kuwaiti citizens. You can’t change history.

Expats are an essential part of Kuwait, they built Kuwait and they developed Kuwait more than most citizens. Learn to treat them with dignity and respect.

Karma is very powerful. What goes around comes around. Expats in Kuwait are not treated with respect.

Can Kuwait function without any expats? No.

Expats in Kuwait contributed to Kuwait’s development too much. They deserve better treatment.

Kuwait will never be able to attract skilled expats with this mentality.

Kuwait will always be able to attract NEW skilled expats just by throwing a shit load of money at them like always and then later kick them out. It’s an infinite loop.

A lot of controversy to the topic. I personally do not like the rule that has been implemented.

Kuwait has their rules and have the right to implement any thing they wish just like any other country so we have to respect it but I feel like it could have been done in a better way.

For example, if they wanted to stop renewing 60years+ then they should’ve made it effective from a certain date i.e., people who entered Kuwait prior to 1971 are exempted from this rule. This gives those individuals being 50 – 60 years old today a decent grace period to sort their affairs to leave and those who have already crossed 60 years a pardon.
Why a pardon for those above 60 years? Because realistically not many above 60 years could find a job easily so they leave and the few who could stay here let’s be honest and look at a human’s life span.

Yes this is a little time consuming but it isn’t going to effect anything major but the numbers would decrease by a lot.

Just wanted to say that the extremely incompetent government has been negatively affecting both Expats and Kuwaitis. Not sure how informed are you guys with the political situation but people are fed up with what’s happening. This topic here is an example how messed up the government is in coming up with solutions and I haven’t met anyone who supported this decision. The government is currently resigned due to political tension and Kuwaitis are demanding a complete change of policies and approach by the government.

The government that resigned isn’t responsible for this age 60+ expat law. The government in Kuwait changes literally every month since the ministers are always resigning or getting fired. The mentality remains the same regardless of how many times the government resigns.

Why can’t we just admit the truth? The “powers that be” in Kuwait haven’t changed their policy and approach since the year 1975. For some reason, the “powers that be” running Kuwait refuses to change its policies and outdated mentality. The truth hurts.

We shouldn’t blame Kuwaiti citizens or the pseudo parliament. The truth is: the “powers that be” that controls Kuwait refuses to change, refuses to grow up, refuses to diversify the economy, refuses to develop the country, refuses to do anything constructive and beneficial for the country. All kuwaitis are fed up and all expats are fed up. Since the mid-to-late 1970s, Kuwait has become hell on earth: the most inhumane, heartless cruel country to expats and kuwaitis alike.

Over the past 40+ years in Kuwait, what were the achievements and accomplishments of the Kuwaiti government(s) ??? What are there actual accomplishments and achievements? They don’t have any achievements or accomplishments whatsoever. Kuwait Metro? No! Silk City (Madinat Al Hareer)? Hell no! Northern Kuwait Islands urban development? No. Non-oil economic diversification? Hell no!

We had always hoped that the Kuwaiti “powers that be” changes their policy and mentality after the Saddam Hussein invasion in 1990-1991 but alas, nothing changed. The policy remains the same, the mentality remains the same, nothing changes.

We are all extremely fed up and mad. It’s been over 40 years and they still refuse to change.

When will they change????? Why do they refuse to change????

What about me? I’m young and hold a University degree and now I am being kicked out of the country. I got terminated because of Kuwaitization and my visa cannot be transferred to that of a private company because of the restrictions imposed by the government. They are making sure terminated expats are unemployable by making their visa non-transferable. So I have no choice but to leave Kuwait after years of loyal service to the Kuwait Ministry. Where is the justice in that?

That there’s more concern for domestic worker visas than there is for teacher visas speaks volumes about the predominant values and priorities in Kuwait.

Getting angry as a foreigner when it comes to such laws does nothing. Unfortunately it is a reality. The country has the potential to be the best in the world because if has a parliamentary system but the average person doesn’t know how to vote to make their country better. As a foreigner the system is clear from day one, you are here to work. It says that in your passport. Forever. I’m telling my young friends to not make the mistake of their elders.

Who will run our high tech factories who will finish building our nuclear submarine who will finish our cancer cure research.
The glass has been overflowing for years.

I’m not going to waste my energy throwing my two cents into the situation.

I will say this though – I’ve spoken to several immigration lawyers and they all told me that they have a large number of Kuwaiti clients who intend on relocating to another country.

Mind you, those countries are not going to give these Kuwaiti immigrants half of what they’re getting in Kuwait and yet they still want to leave Kuwait.

I personally have Kuwaiti family members and friends who have expressed interest in immigrating.

That says something.

One of the reasons why this country is going downhill (permanently) is they try to solve complex problems with simple solutions only partially thought-through. They want instant gratification and they want it now. So instead of recognizing that the issue requires a long-term, multi-faceted solution, they just resorted to just deporting people and creating an aura of fear. I doubt they spent more than 15 minutes thinking about it. I doubt they consulted an expert, and economist, a city planner, etc. My prediction is that they won’t get the outcome they expect. Rather they will drive away the high quality expats they actually want & need, and keep the ones who have no where else to go.

“Mind you, those countries are not going to give these Kuwaiti immigrants half of what they’re getting in Kuwait and yet they still want to leave Kuwait”

Considering that most of them will most likely still maintain their Kuwaiti citizenship secretly they will also most likely avail the state provided benefits on the quiet also

In that way the half of what they dont get in a western country will get compensated here

This is such a prejudiced comment!

Are you racist by any chance? only racist speak the way you did above.

A tale of two cities: Manama and Kuwait.
While both share a deep cultural bond with interwoven tapestry of lifestyles and living insofar as how they treat their expats, Bahrain and Kuwait are like chalk and cheese. While each year Manama comes out top of the charts for the most expat friendly place on earth, Kuwait comes first from bottom.
Why is that? Some say that PLO’s tacit support for Saddam and the occupation turned Kuwait into one big xenophobic hot spot post liberation. I have my doubts that is true. For as long as I can remember Kuwait has been hostile toward ‘ajnabis’ or more specifically toward South East Asians aka subcontinentals and anyone who looks like them, from even before the time of invasion. I think it has to do with the country’s hatred of reading as a habit in general, and its pathologic fear of traveling outside the comfort zones of Spain, Lebanon and Egypt. Kuwaitis are trapped by their perceptions of what lands and countries less traveled are like and what they might represent- flavored as they are by their limited interactions with only the blue collared working menial jobs in Kuwait. That’s still no excuse for treating people shoddily but I am just saying.

My dad dropped out at 10th grade to work, He worked for 2 years doing several jobs to afford a ticket and came to Kuwait around 1985. For the next 22 years, he worked at minimum wage in Suwaikh markets and started his own business after learning something even the top universities in the world won’t give you.
I agree that illegal expats should be dealt with but not people who genuinely spent their whole life abiding by the rules and providing for their family

Mark, I just followed your link for the old photographer and the last update u had on him was in 2014 about him passing away. Just thought of letting you know about it

Hi everyone
Does anyone have any legit info on the 60+ law if there’s is any amendment ?
Any information would highly appreciated
Thank-you

Hi Every one,
I work as a Business Development Manager for a reputed company in Kuwait. The very fist thing we manager foolishly do when we face crisis is reduce the expenditure by reducing work force in other word staffs.
The problem is when we reduce your work force the returns will go in to deep dive since all the services by the reduced workforce is in stall.
We manager will resign and look for an other Job in LinkedIn but the company or the corporation or a country will fail.
The brilliant one use this opportunity to bring in more talents and expertise in to the land. I spend 35 years in this Great country.
I am sorry to see we don’t have any “EXPORT COUCIL”.
I have know people make great ABAYA in Kuwait and there are people buy and export India. What a great opportunity. We all ways serve with our Kuwaiti brothers and sisters.
This is just a drop of the Ocean.
We haven’t seen any small manufactures participate in any International trade fair from our Country.
Let’s join together hand in hand and come out this Grater crisis we humanity face.

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