Kuwait Work Visa for Indians: Process, Fees & Documents Required

In order to live and work in Kuwait, individuals except those belonging to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens must apply for a Kuwait residence visa. Work visa falls under the Kuwait Residence visa category.

Thus, Indians willing to live and work in Kuwait must know the eligibility criteria and application process for Kuwait work visas for Indian citizens. Read along!

Work visas in Kuwait are iqamas that allow private and public sector employees to take up a job in this country. Rules regarding these are stated under articles 17 (Public Sector Employees) and 18 (Private Sector Employees) of the immigration regulations.

As stated in the introductory paragraph, expatriates other than the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens must obtain an iqama or a Kuwait residence visa to live in this country. Mainly, three types of residence visas are there, namely work, dependent and domestic visas.

All of these visas need sponsorship. Expatriates can sponsor their residency or stay in Kuwait with or without applying for work if they have enough funds in hand.

Following is a list of Kuwait work visa requirements for Indian citizens:

• Applicants must have a job offer and a sponsor.
• Applicants must be genuine travellers meaning they must have a good intention behind travelling to this country.
• They must have enough funds to financially support themselves and their dependents during their stay in Kuwait.
• They must have the intention to return to their home country and ensure the same.
• Applicants have a clean criminal track record. In that case, they may have to provide a PCC (Police Clearance Certificate) to prove credibility.
• Applicants must fulfil the required health requirements set by authorities.

As stated earlier, employees need sponsorship to get a Kuwait work visa. Here, employers sponsor this type of visa.

Here is a step-by-step guide on the application process for the Kuwait work visa:

Step 1 – Employees must accept the employment offer to get a residence visa on a work visa.

Step 2 – Next, a Kuwait-based employer must sponsor this work permit and apply for it from the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labour.

Step 3 – Here, employers must gather a passport of the employee and a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the General Administration of Criminal Investigation at the Ministry of Interior.

Step 4 – Now, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait to dispatch a copy of the work permit to the Kuwaiti Embassy in the employees’ home country (here in India) for endorsement.

Step 5 - The sponsor or employer also needs to dispatch a copy of the work permit to the employee. Next, that employee must take this document to the embassy.

Step 6 – At this stage, employees must make an application for an entry visa for Kuwait. Employees belonging to private sector organisations need a no-objection certificate (NOC) and a copy of the employer’s or sponsor’s authorised signatory that has been registered for business grounds.

Step 7 – Under certain circumstances where there is no Kuwait Embassy in the employee’s home country or residing country, the submission of work permit and no objection certificate to the Ministry of the Interior for getting an entry visa delegates to the sponsor.

If employees enter Kuwait on a visit visa and accept employment, then they must leave the country and again return on the new entry visa.

Note: The majority of nationalities must go back to their own country to complete medical examinations and endorsement from the home country’s Kuwait Embassy.

Individuals need to have the following documents to obtain the Kuwait work visa stamped in India:

• Original Visa
• Air ticket (One way)
• Medical Report
• Passport with ECNR
• Original work agreement. The employer and the employee must sign this agreement.
• PCC
• Driving licence and experience certificate for drivers. Applicants must submit this document after the attestation from The External Affairs Ministry.
• Experience certificate for cooks. Applicants must submit this document after the attestation from The External Affairs Ministry.
• Photograph with a blue or white colour background.

To obtain the stamp on the Passport, applicants must approach an authorised (Kuwaiti Consulate in India) travel agent.

Please note that the travel agent does not have the right to approve or cancel the applicant’s entry to Kuwait. It depends entirely on the Kuwait Embassy.

When an employee enters Kuwait, they have to register their fingerprints for security clearance and residence at registered fingerprint departments in the country. There are 4 fingerprint registration companies in Kuwait.

To complete the process, individuals have to submit the following documents:

• Application form
• Original medical report with a copy
• Original Visa with a copy
• Original Passport with a copy
• Original insurance receipt with a copy
• Letter for a work permit from the Ministry of Social Affairs & Labour
• 4 photographs

The work permit application process takes 3- 4 weeks to complete.

The most common reasons that can lead to Kuwait work visa denial include:

• Erroneous visa application form
• Inconsistency in the information provided
• Applicants fail to meet the Kuwaiti immigration requirements
• Having past and present criminal records
• Submitting false documents
• Submitting damaged Passport
• Passports do not have a minimum validity of 6 months

As per a newspaper report, expatriates consist of 75% of the entire population of Kuwait, and the majority are Indians. This allows India to get a massive amount of foreign workers.

The above-mentioned sections thoroughly explain the eligibility and application process of Kuwait work visas for Indian citizens. Read these details attentively and keep in mind the Kuwait work visa rejection causes before applying for the same.