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Leaving Kuwait
Leaving happens all the time and everyone does it eventually. If you do then start preparing early and if possible find someone who has done it or who has produced a "how to leave" note - they are more common than you think. Paying bills is more important than clearing accounts because unpaid bills if they register at the airport will prevent you from leaving until paid. Clearing bank accounts can be done from outside the country if you have internet banking and as most banks charge you for the privilege of closing the account, don't tell them you are going.
People do leave - some times in a great hurry....there are those who have been so depressed that they have got on a plane and not returned although this is not not recommended unless you postively are never going to return and you have no family, close friends or colleagues who are responsible for you still in the country. There are stories of people who left as a result of the invasion in 1990 with debts in the form of payments outstanding on goods which you would have thought would have been lost as a result of the disruption due to the war. On their return they were presented with a bill and could not do anything until it was all paid. Ultimately Kuwaitis own or are major shareholders of all businesses in Kuwait as is their right and it is their money as much as anyone else's.
There was the bloke who had personal problems who was assisted to leave such that his company first found out when his apartment was visited and all it still had was a bed and box where the TV had been. Some companies give allowances for furniture etc, but he had pocketed this and left before it had been paid off. Is it any wonder new expats are treated with suspsicion until they have been then some time but then if you had the same sort of visitors to your country, would you not look at them the same way?
People stay in Kuwait for many years and are happy with it. There are the old timers who wouldn't hear you say anything bad about the place and consider you to be newcomers unless you have been there five years AND stayed during (at least) one war. They usually have forgotten what it is like to be new in a country and not knowing what is happening and to whom you should turn.
People also come back - seemingly also in a great hurry....Many people in recent years have left to find the grass is not greener in other countries and the lifestyle they left behind in Kuwait was actually a very comfortable one and who can blame them. It is often driven by the wives who on the one hand "hated" Kuwait and wanted out but did not realise how other places were worse until they got there. Having maids to do the dirty work and drivers to take the children to school and after-school activities leaves the wives with little they "have" to do which comes apparent in other countries. I have seen families stay on in Kuwait and not return to Europe after their "time" in Kuwait because clearly the wife had no intention of (a) working again and (b) doing house work. Kuwait can be a comfortable place to live and work hence the thousands who do it and more so with every year.
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