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Kuwait: Migrants Not Allowed to Practice Law

On November 23, 2013

As part of Kuwait's plans to reduce the foreign population by 100,000 a year, Kuwait's Social Affairs and Labor Ministry (MOSAL) will now deny all work permits for migrants registered as lawyers. The Ministry referred to a law that only recognizes lawyers who are accredited by the state. The same law specifies that lawyers should be Kuwaiti nationals and graduates of Kuwait University of state-accredited universities.  The new regulation by the ministry also disallows work permits that enlist migrants as legal counselors, limiting them to "legal researchers" or "legal specialists."

These new regulations issued by the country's ministries, without the approval of the parliament, illustrate the wide-sweeping nature of nationalization laws that will potentially affect both blue and white collar migrant workers.