Expats in Kuwait over the age of 60 without a degree have until the end of the year to leave the country, newspaper Kuwait Times reported. This follows the news that Kuwait would stop issuing work permits for expats aged over 60 without a university degree, and will not extend any residencies and visas beyond August 31.

Work permits for over  without a university degree will no longer be issued from January 1, 2021 and applies to all those who hold a higher secondary certificate or lower, the report said.

The new rules are likely part of a government plan to cut the overall number of expats in the country by as much as 360,000 workers. According to this plan, 150,000 of these will be expats aged over 60, the Times added.

On Sunday, Kuwait authorities issued a decision to ban the transfer of government workers to the private sector. Kuwaiti women’s husbands and children, wives of Kuwaitis, Palestinians with travel documents and those in specialized technical professions in the health field who are transferring to licensed facilities to provide medical services, such as doctors, nurses and others in the medical field are exempted from the decision.