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Kuwait hikes up residency fees

October 13, 2016 at 4:42 pm

Kuwait has raised the minimum salary required for expatriates to sponsor their wives and children.

Expatriates will need to earn 450 dinar ($1,487) per month, up from the 250 dinar ($826) per month.

The decision was issued by Kuwait’s Interior Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Al Khalid Al Sabah, in an effort to balance the expat-native ratio. There are currently believed to be around 3.3 million expats living in Kuwait, they make up 70 per cent of the population.

Kuwait’s laws state that foreigners working in the country are able to sponsor their spouse, children or an elderly relative that is dependent on them on condition that the employee can meet the minimum requirements to support the family member they have brought over.

When the minimum wage to bring over a family member was first introduced, it was 400 dinars ($1,322), but in 2004 it was lowered to 250 dinars in a bid to expand the labour force.