How many times has an email come to your inbox stating that you are eligible for immigration or study or work abroad or telling you that your dream life is waiting for you in X country? If you were planning to immigrate or study abroad and already started the official process with an authorized attorney, this should not be a surprise. But when an email comes to you without your request or consent or even thinking about the matter, then you need to stop and think twice before replying to such messages, because maybe this is a fraud or spam and you can lose your money along with wasting much time.

This article is not intended to frighten those who wish to immigrate or study abroad, but to alert people of the importance of taking the correct and legal steps to avoid trouble, loss of money and disappointment. There is an official government body in Kuwait called the consumer protection office, which has a big role in protecting the public from any possible fraud or cheating, either by a shop, restaurant or office. So anyone who feels that they have fallen victim to such ill practices should not hesitate to communicate with them - this is their job.

I believe that the safest, easiest and best way for those who want to emigrate or study abroad should be to go to the embassy of the country to which they want to move to get the right answers, as they know how to direct people, whether to the right sites for registration or authorized offices which they may deal with. The embassy will surely have the right response. Running behind a fake email or a call from an anonymous person is very dangerous. It could feed your dreams, but won't take you anywhere.

One of the readers sent me a complaint about this subject. He said he received an offer to emigrate abroad without his request, but he liked the idea. He paid a large sum of money for the procedures. But after several years, he did not go anywhere. I quote him here: "When I asked to refund the money, they said it's nonrefundable as it's mentioned in the receipt. They also said that I don't have a good enough band score in the IELTS exam."

I would like to mention that I do not know the conditions and requirements for immigration. Every country has certain requirements, and maybe a good command of English is a prerequisite. I had an expatriate friend who left Kuwait years ago and I remember that this matter took her about two years and required money, time and reviews, but what I know for sure is that she had a lawyer to review the conditions and terms of all paperwork.

The other thing that I would like to note is that there are intuitive things that people must pay attention to when signing any contract in Kuwait. For example, the contract must have both an Arabic and English version, because in the event of a dispute, the country's courts here will be the legal reference and make the final judgment. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people get into trouble because they do not speak Arabic, yet they sign papers in Arabic only out of confidence, and this is a mistake. When you put your name on a paper, then you must know what you are saying yes for! Caution is a duty and is required to avoid losing money and time.