Gulf Worker Rights: Job Change, Exit Permit, Passport

The table below is as reported by AYK Global (kafala system 2026). AYK Global is a secondary source. It has not been checked by us against the official texts, so do not treat any row as final.

Confirm each item on Qiwa (Saudi Arabia), MOHRE (UAE) or the Qatar labour ministry before you act.

Reported reforms allow job changes without former-employer consent in Qatar. In Saudi Arabia, a job change is reported as possible after contract terms are met, through Qiwa. In the UAE, a job change is allowed under Federal Law 33/2021, with a 90-day grace period after termination. Rules differ by worker category, so check the official portal for your case.

Points to keep in mind:

• The 90-day grace in the UAE is reported as running after termination. Ask MOHRE how it applies to your case, and do not rely on a friend's memory.
• Do not pay a middleman to change your job without checking the official route.

AYK Global reports that Saudi workers no longer need employer permission to leave since mid-2025, that the UAE has no exit permit, and that Qatar has no exit permit for about 95% of workers. The source does not say who the other 5% are. Ask the labour ministry which group you are in.

Passport retention is reported as prohibited in all three countries. In the UAE, the same source says enforcement is uneven. That means the law and daily practice may not match.

• Domestic workers. They are largely excluded from these reforms, according to the same report. If you are a housemaid, driver or caregiver, do not assume the table applies. Our research treats domestic and care work as a high-risk area that needs strict safeguards.
• Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman. We found no reliable detail on these three, so we say nothing about them. Bahrain is a real destination: 13,329 Pakistani workers went there in H1 2026 (TechJuice).
• Other worker categories. Rules differ by category. Check the official portal for your case.

These are the problems workers most often search for once they are abroad. The right-hand column is our general advice, not a legal rule.

An emergency trigger in the research is "two months unpaid". That is a good moment to start recording, and to look at the official complaint route for your country.

In our reading, the people who search for these topics are workers already in the Gulf, on an iqama or a residence visa, aged roughly 28 to 45. They want to change job, fix a visa or iqama, or send money home. Their fears are an absconding case, unpaid wages and a cancelled visa. Their searches include "huroob", "iqama expired" and "transfer sponsorship". This profile is our synthesis, not survey data.

Families at home also read it. A spouse or parent often wants to know whether the worker can leave, change job or get a passport back. The table above gives the reported answers, and the official portals give the final ones.

If you are reading this before you leave, one more point: the best time to protect your rights is before you sign. Keep the original offer and compare it with the contract you are given.

General advice, valid for any of the problems above.

1. The offer and contract from before you left, and any new version you are given.
2. Copies of your documents: passport, visa, residence permit or iqama, and the medical report.
3. Pay records: payslips, bank statements, or notes of cash paid, with dates.
4. Messages and voice notes with the employer or supervisor. Do not delete them.
5. Photos and video with dates, for accommodation and working conditions.
6. A simple diary: date, what happened, who said what, who saw it.
7. Names and phone numbers of colleagues who saw the problem.

Store copies somewhere other than your employer's premises, for example a family member's phone.

Our research names the official portals but does not give phone numbers or complaint steps for each country, so we do not invent them. Workers search for complaints through MOHRE (UAE), Musaned and Qiwa (Saudi Arabia), and the Qatar labour ministry. Look for the complaint route on the official site of that body.

The only helpline number in our research is for heat: violations of the Saudi midday outdoor work ban can be reported to hotline 19911, as reported by the Saudi Press Agency for 2025. That number is for heat complaints, not for wage disputes.

If you are in distress or unwell, contact someone you trust and seek help locally. Loan pressure and isolation are real strains, and asking for help is not weakness.

• Official texts of the laws, which we have not read.
• Any detail for Kuwait, Bahrain or Oman.
• Complaint phone numbers and step-by-step procedures for wages, iqama and absconding.
• End-of-service payments and how they are calculated.
• Minimum wage figures. We give none.

Confirm any fee, law or deadline on the official website before you act. If you are still at home, start with the job offer check and the emigration process.