KUWAIT CITY, May 23: Officials of the Immigration General Department, representing the Ministry of Weather, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor are said to have agreed to allow holders of Article 17, 20, 22 and 24 visas (those on government contracts, domestic workers, on dependent visas and on self sponsorship) to transfer to Article 18 and 19 visas (private company sponsorship) and work in commercial or industrial sectors after applying for the transfer at the labor department, reports Al-Qabas daily.
This news could not be independently confirmed. The purported decision was taken during a joint meeting, but the daily did not mention when the decision will come into effect, nor the conditions under which these transfers will be allowed.

The Immigration General Department also asked the ministry not to hand over work permits to applicants until they report at the immigration department in their area and submit a receipt issued by the ministry showing the name of the applicant, the serial number and the number of the work permit.
The step is aimed at preventing the forging of work permits, said sources.

During the meeting, the officials also approved a proposal on improving the position of Bedouns who work as mandoubs (company representatives) or are authorized to sign on behalf of private companies. The proposal suggested that such people be referred to as people with ‘recognized citizenship’ instead of ‘illegal residents’ on their documents.

Both sides agreed that the Central Information Department will be in charge of taking up this task with the Central System for Remedying the Status of Illegal Residents (CSRSIR), said sources.

The officials further approved a number of organizational procedures related to expatriate personnel such as mandating the Criminal Evidences Department to ask the Immigration Department for fingerprint records and State Security Department for security approvals. - arabtimes