Why small-scale project visas can be problematic

Kuwait: After two years of working in Kuwait, assuming she was under regular work visa conditions, Shaimaa Morsi, an expat with a bachelor’s degree in political science, was surprised to find out that her work visa was actually a “small-scale project visa”. This type of visa, though categorized under work visas, has specific features and limitations that many are unaware of. As a result, Morsi found herself with very few job opportunities after being laid off from her first job.

Many residents from various nationalities, including Indians and Egyptians, have complained about this type of visa through online channels. “Don’t work under this visa type; you will regret it,” wrote Mostafa Khalifa on Facebook.

Small-scale project visas are issued to companies with limited economic activity and small capital, said lawyer Mejbel Al-Shurika, President of the Center for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. The wages at these companies are typically average due to the nature of their operations, he said.

“The main issue with this type of visa is that employees are only eligible to transfer to other small project enterprises, and only after three years from the date of their recruitment, according to resolution no. 712/2017 issued by the Public Authority of Manpower,” Shurika said.

Even after the three-year period ends, transferring remains difficult due to the limited number of small enterprises in Kuwait and their already filled workforce, as these companies are restricted in the number of employees they can hire, Shurika said. “Given the challenges of transferring to other visa types, employees may find themselves vulnerable to exploitation by some unscrupulous owners of these small enterprises,” he added.

For expats unfamiliar with Kuwait’s laws and given the absence of clear information about the special conditions of the small-scale project visa on the work permit, Morsi believes many may be misled into coming to work in Kuwait under this visa without fully understanding the challenges they might face. “There’s nothing on the work permit I received indicating that my visa is different from a regular work visa or has any special conditions,” Morsi said. “My husband and I were unemployed for months because we couldn’t find suitable job opportunities with companies operating under small-scale project contracts.”

Usamah Zariwala, a senior recruiter in Kuwait, explained that an article 18 visa, which permits people to work in Kuwait, is divided into five categories. The first is the regular and common visa, known as the main file, which is fully transferable to any other visa type. The remaining categories — government project visa, Mubarak Al-Kabeer (small-scale project) visa, factory visa and farm visa — are only transferable within their respective sectors.

“Currently, work permit types do not specify which category the visa falls under,” Zariwala said. To address this issue, he advised individuals to check the Public Authority of Manpower’s official website to verify their visa type.

According to personal experiences shared with Kuwait Times, the only way for employees to convert their visa to the regular fully transferable visas is to return to their home country and request a new visa from scratch. On a side note, Shurika said that while the small-scale project visa is available to nationals from various countries, the Egyptian embassy has suspended permits for this type of visa for Egyptian workers.