Kuwait Times, 13 November 2023: Kuwait’s Interior Ministry and Public Authority of Manpower have explained the conditions for changing sponsorship in the country.

Among other things, expatriates must meet the specified sponsorship transfer conditions under Kuwait Administrative Decision No. 842/2015.

If expatriates meet these conditions, they can transfer their residency and change sponsorship.

The expatriate’s residency in Kuwait should not be less than one consecutive year when transferring from family residency to work residency in the private sector.

The Administrative Decision states that workers brought in under a work permit can be transferred to work in the private sector one year after the date of the work permit being issued and approved by the existing employer for the sponsorship transfer.

Workers brought in with permits for employment in the private sector can be transferred to government contracts and projects after the government contract they were originally brought in for has been completed. The transfer to another government contract with the same employer or a government contract with a different employer is limited to highly skilled technical workers as defined by the government entity overseeing the project.

The Ministry and Authority emphasised employers have to cancel work permits of employees registered under the government contract that cannot be transferred for departure at the end of the contract.

Residency must not be transferred without the sponsor’s approval.

At least three years should have passed since the work permit was issued and the sponsor must be notified of the worker’s intention to transfer sponsorship within the specified duration in line with Kuwait Law No. 6/2010.

The worker’s notification to the sponsor must be verified and submitted to the labour department upon the transfer request.

Sponsorship transfer to another sponsor must meet the sponsorship conditions and all of the documents required for residency transfer without a sponsor’s approval must be submitted along with the payment of all associated fees.

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