Saudi Arabia approved a program that offers permanent residency for some foreigners, the latest sign of how the quest for non-oil revenue is prompting Gulf Arab countries to rethink the role of expats in their societies.
“The special residency is for doctors, engineers, innovators, investors and residents who contribute to the development of Saudi Arabia and lead to a prosperous future,” said Lina Almaeena, a member of the consultative Shura Council. The appointed body approved the program last week, with 76 members voting in favor and 55 against. [Source]
First UAE, then Qatar and now Saudi Arabia. Hopefully, we’re next.
22 replies on “Saudis Offer Permanent Residency to Some Expats”
I was in denial for a long time, but for many reasons Kuwait is the most difficult place to stay in the whole region. 🙁
I sure hope so, many really deserve it.
My father is a doctor here for 32 years. But to Kuwait he is probably is the same as a person who just entered Kuwait first day. I was born and raised here, 32 years and I can be kicked anytime or if I am fired from my job I should quit and go back to my home country that I never lived in.
There is hurt in this comment!!!!
I feel for you. My father came to this country in the early 80s and raised an entire family all by himself. He has barely been to his home country and Kuwait is all he knows. Now that he is nearing retirement, he doesn’t know where to go because he won’t be eligible for a visa now that he is nearing his 60s. Kuwait has been his home for so long. It’s a sorry state when someone dedicates 30+ years of their life to working and contributing to the economy of Kuwait only to be told to leave at the end.
I know there are a few who will come up with the stale statement of “if you don’t like the country then leave” but the fact is we expats complain because we LOVE this country and and want to feel like a part of it. That cannot be achieved if we have to keep running around for our visas every 1 or 2 years feeling like an alien who just landed on this country.
All we can ask is to be given some benefits by the government. Give expats who have lived here for 20+ years a permanent visa if not a citizenship. We atleast deserve that much.
My dad is a Kuwaiti war veteran. Fought in the Gulf war, was captured tortured and managed to escape. Continued to work for the Kuwaiti military until he was not allowed any more then we immigrated to Canada. Not to mention my mom is Kuwaiti and I still need to get a visa.
I hope things change. Kuwait has a parliament’s so things will move slower than the other countries in the region
Same thing here bro, my dad is a doctor who came here in the 80’s. He was and still is working here. I was also born and raised here.
some people here really deserve it.. but we have a giant problem too… bedoon
I don’t understand why there is confusion or additional expectations. Everyone knows the rules here. Why do they need to change?
Kuwait will use you up and then ask you to leave once you are too old or have lost value to the country. How do you fight this?
Save all of that excellent pay you receive here and be ready for that day and walk away with a real sense of accomplishment and happiness that you came here to earn money and left here with that money and a better life for the family you supported back home and yourself ahead.
Don’t buy the latest clothes, cars, phones or whatever you think you should buy because you think it will make you happy. Save that money or send it home and always plan for your life after your work here in Kuwait is done. Budget your money and always have a plan and a goal for exiting Kuwait with your head held high.
You knew the rules when you came, don’t feel betrayed when that time comes. It was always going to be that way. Kuwait doesn’t owe you residency or anything else except the money you earned while you CHOSE to work here. Don’t like it or think there should be more? Simply don’t come here.
I am an expat and I am taking advantage of this opportunity and will always thank Kuwait for making this possible for me to earn more money than I could back home and this money will give me and my family a better future.
Thank you Kuwait!
here is why you don’t understand it.
my father migrated to Kuwait around 1951 and we have been here since then.
during this time my father established his own business without any Kuwaiti partner (he owned the business 100%), his residency article was 19 (no Kuwaiti sponsor), we all went to government schools, free health care, we had ration cards just like any other Kuwaiti, they used to give us books, cloth & breakfast at schools. practically we were treated like any other Kuwaiti , WE WERE CONSIDERED PARTNERS IN BUILDING KUWAIT.
unfortunately all this changed in one night. 2 August 1990 (the Iraqi invasion). after the liberation of Kuwait it all changed, we are no more partners in building Kuwait.
my dad was made to give away his business license and find a Kuwaiti partner who did nothing but putting his name on the papers. and you know the rest. how the laws keep on changing.
we who were born here 30~ 40 years ago, were brought up and raised considering Kuwait to be our home, most of don’t know any other home but Kuwait. many of us stayed in Kuwait during its darkest hours (Iraqi invasion).
we were raised considering Kuwait as part of us, we didn’t come here to work few years to gather money and go back nor did our parents who immigrated to Kuwait, we came to find a new home, and that what we found in Kuwait. so yes it heart us when we see how things are changing, and changing to worse not for us only but for all, and mainly for Kuwait who is losing the people who love it and considers it as home to people who are coming to make money and leave. we are here cause Kuwait is our home, our family, our LOVE.
What about children born in Kuwait? Is it their fault that their parents decided to bring them up in Kuwait? Such children will inevitably form a bond with their birthplace and its not like they would know ‘the rules’.
meh….article and all the other articles about this are pretty vague. Basically instead of a kafeel, the government becomes your kafeel….kind of like the free zone licenses you can buy in the UAE. However, plz note that owning a property (assuming they actually allow expats to buy property) doesnt guarantee residency. Moreover, dont you think its a little too late for all of this? the heady boom days of the GCC are long gone, and property is way too expensive to begin with….
It needs to not be for people of specific occupations, it should be for everybody who has spent a life time here, with proper counters and special treatment equal to Kuwaitis at ministries, appreciation, respect, etc.. but.. one can only hope.
id just like to add, and unfortunately its on deaf ears, but theres a calibre, a cut of people, a certain generation, the ones that are still hanging on from the golden days of Kuwait, that have a love and commitment and patriotism to this country they have passed it on to their children whom they have raised, here that need to be kept, need to be appreciated need to be acknowledged, because you cant find them or their type in the coming generations, and losing them or having them return to countries they are strangers in is a crime in itself.
I love it that Singapore doesn’t automatically grant citizenship to children born in Singapore but grants them PR ( permanent residency status).
As a social experiment, it is a fantastical move by both the Qataris and the Emaaratis to upp their intellectual capital.
Remains to be seen whether Abu Dhabi will consider permanent residency for some Qataris too and vice versa 🙂
Privately many will tell you Abu Dhabi and Doha are only seeking to improve their GNLs (gross national looks) by granting PR to the right sorta expats from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Lebanon among other nations that look, smell and feel White, err, right.
If that is true, it’s racism on a whole new level!
For such programs for highly skilled migrant professionals to work anywhere there has to be zero discrimination and meddling from the NA which all too often misses the wood for the tree. Quite how this will stay immune from Vitamin W for Wasta will be anybody’s guess. But like with most things in Kuwait what ‘jinsiya’ you are will matter more than anything else, period. And that precisely is going to be Kuwait’s loss; UAE and Qatar’s gain.
Mark, this entry beggars the question why would any expat in his right mind even consider taking them up on their offer for permanent residency in Saudi Arabia?!
If there’s just the one cohort of people that is deserving of a PR status in Kuwait today- it’s got to be outstanding teachers of STEM and of literature, philosophy and humanities. That’s one cohort in short supply- always has been.
I agree to not giving citizenship completely. Whether to give citizenship or not varies vastly from Luxemburg to the US to Japan etc for many different advantages and disadvantages.
However, while working in a workshop with the UNDP. Many Kuwaitis, including myself raised some very good points. Different Kuwaiti CEOs and managers mentioned a couple of things.
1. Kuwait does not make it easy for a foreigner to gain a driving license
2. Kuwait does not give a streamlined and easy to navigate approach to entering the country whether on visiting or business
3. Kuwait does not allow foreigners to own a house, even an apartment.
That creates one big problem in an economic and business point of view. Kuwait, in a majority case, is getting the foreigner which has Kuwait as their last choice in the GCC and least skilled rather than their preferred destination AND RIGHTLY SO. I don’t blame them! Why would a foreigner want to come here if they can’t even get a license through a structured process or own a flat/apartment at least.
In my opinion, just like Japan and several other countries, do not grant them citizenship.
BUT at least let a foreigner go through a fair process to obtain a visa, license and AT LEAST own their own apartment! It would only be beneficial for us to do so!
1. Stabilises real estate prices
2. Attract talent
3. bring more business diversity and opportunities
4. access to more skilled labour and opportunity for growth to learn from these individuals as Kuwaitis.
And more so, for those people in the comments and MANY other foreigners in Kuwait who have spent time in this country more than i have been alive for 24 years as a Kuwaiti.
Let them at least own apartments. AT LEAST. it’s simple FDI (which Kuwait excels at) but i don’t understand why they don’t allow this to happen in a economic/business point of view AND a human side as well. I don’t enjoy hearing people who love my country and spent so long to be here not being able to stay after they retire, especially if it’s an individual who’s parents have to leave for this reason..
I apologise to every foreigner who who loves this country dearly. I promise you the majority i’ve met while getting my first job feel the same way in a human sense mostly.
We’re sorry.