Expat Nurse Rights in the GCC: Kafala Reform, Passport Withholding, and Where to Get Help
Most nurses who work in the GCC complete their contracts without ever encountering a serious labor rights issue. But the legal landscape governing your employment relationship has shifted dramatically and very recently across the region, and knowing what has actually changed country by country protects you if something does go wrong, and helps you separate outdated fear from current reality.
What Is the Kafala System, and Is It Still in Effect?
Kafala is the sponsorship framework, introduced across the Gulf in the 1950s, that historically tied a migrant worker's legal residency and ability to change employers or leave the country to a single sponsoring employer. It created a significant power imbalance: workers often could not switch jobs without their employer's written consent, could not exit the country without an employer-approved exit visa, and had limited practical access to labor courts. Reform has been uneven, but it has moved fast in the last few years:
- Saudi Arabia officially abolished the Kafala system in October 2025 (announced June 2025), as part of Vision 2030. Under the new framework, workers can change employers freely once contractual obligations or notice periods are met, can apply for exit and re-entry visas directly through government platforms (Absher, Qiwa) without employer approval, and employers are explicitly barred from holding a worker's passport. This is the most comprehensive reform announced in the region to date though some human rights observers have raised questions about how completely it has been implemented in practice, and specific worker categories such as domestic workers may still operate under different or phased timelines
- Qatar removed its exit-permit requirement in 2018 and eliminated the employer-consent requirement for changing jobs through Law No. 18 of 2022. On paper, these are mature, multi-year-old reforms. In practice, Human Rights Watch's 2026 World Report still documents ongoing issues in Qatar, including wage theft and unsafe working conditions a reminder that a reform being several years old doesn't mean every workplace has fully complied with it
- The UAE removed the employer No Objection Certificate as the legal requirement for switching jobs under Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, effective February 2022 the old system, where a refused NOC could trigger a labor ban, no longer applies to most standard job changes. It's worth distinguishing this labor-law reform from the underlying residency visa sponsorship structure, which still exists in a milder form: your work visa is still tied to an employer, even though that employer no longer controls whether you can leave for another job
- Kuwait and Bahrain allow workers to change or leave jobs without employer consent after completing one contract year, under their own respective reforms
- Oman remains among the least reformed GCC countries on this specific point as of this writing worker mobility without employer involvement is more limited there than in the countries above
Is It Legal for My Employer to Hold My Passport?
No, and this is one of the clearest, most consistently prohibited practices across the entire region. Passport confiscation by an employer is explicitly illegal under Saudi Arabia's post-reform framework and under Kuwaiti labor law (which specifically bans private-sector and oil-sector employers from withholding a foreign worker's passport), and it is inconsistent with labor law across the rest of the GCC as well.
The honest complication: despite being illegal essentially everywhere, passport confiscation remains a documented practice in some workplaces across the region, according to human rights monitoring organizations. The gap between the law and some employers' actual behavior is real. What matters for you is this: if your passport is being held against your will, you are not in a legal gray area. The law is unambiguously on your side, and this is exactly the kind of violation that host-country labor ministries are set up to act on.
Where to Get Help, By Category
Host Country Labor Ministry
Every GCC country now operates an official complaint channel. A few concrete examples: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, accessible through the Absher and Qiwa digital platforms; the UAE's Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE), which runs its own complaint portal and smart app; and Qatar's Ministry of Labour. These are official government channels, not third-party services, and using them does not require your employer's involvement or knowledge.
Your Embassy or Consulate
Most countries provide some form of labor welfare support to their nationals working in the Gulf, though the specific services legal referral, shelter assistance, repatriation support, mediation vary significantly by country and by embassy. If you don't already know what your specific embassy offers in your host country, it's worth finding out before you need it, not during a crisis.
The International Labour Organization (ILO)
The ILO has played a direct role in the pace and shape of recent GCC labor reforms, and GCC governments have increasingly engaged with ILO standards as part of their modernization efforts. While the ILO doesn't typically intervene in individual cases directly, its published standards and country reports are a credible, independent reference point for understanding what your actual rights are meant to be.
What NEAC Does and Doesn't Do Here
To be transparent: NEAC is a licensing and exam application facilitator, not a legal aid organization or labor rights body. NEAC can help you understand contract terms related to gratuity and notice periods as part of career planning (see our guide to GCC nursing contracts and gratuity), but an active labor rights violation passport withholding, unpaid wages, unsafe conditions should go through your host country's official labor ministry channel and your embassy, not through a licensing service.
A Note on Rapid, Recent Change
Kafala reform is moving faster and more unevenly across the GCC than almost any other topic in this pillar. Saudi Arabia's abolition took effect in October 2025, genuinely recent at the time of writing. Information even a year or two old may already be outdated, particularly for Saudi Arabia specifically. Always verify current rules against official government portals (Absher, Qiwa, MOHRE, and equivalent Ministry of Labour sites) rather than relying on general articles, including this one, for anything time-sensitive or decision-critical.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is the Kafala system still used in the GCC in 2026?
A: It depends on the country, and the picture is changing fast. Saudi Arabia officially abolished its Kafala sponsorship system in October 2025. Qatar removed its exit-permit and job-change consent requirements between 2018 and 2022. The UAE removed the employer NOC requirement for switching jobs in 2022, though a milder employer-tied residency sponsorship structure still exists. Kuwait and Bahrain allow job changes without employer consent after completing one contract year. Oman remains among the least reformed in this area. Even where reforms are official, human rights monitors report that on-the-ground practice has not always caught up with the law.
Q: Is it legal for my employer to keep my passport?
A: No. Passport confiscation by an employer is illegal under the labor law of every GCC country, including explicit statutory prohibitions in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Despite this, passport withholding is still a documented practice in some workplaces across the region. If it happens to you, the law is on your side, and this is one of the clearest violations to report to your host country's labor ministry.
Q: What is the difference between the old NOC requirement and today's rules?
A: Historically, switching employers in most GCC countries required a No Objection Certificate from your current employer, and refusal could trigger a labor ban. Recent reforms in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain have removed or significantly reduced this requirement, replacing it with rules based on completed contract terms, notice periods, and direct government portals rather than employer consent.
Q: Where can I report a labor rights violation in the GCC?
A: Every GCC country now has an official labor ministry complaint channel: examples include Saudi Arabia's Absher and Qiwa platforms and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, the UAE's MOHRE complaint system, and Qatar's Ministry of Labour. Your embassy or consulate is also a resource, and the International Labour Organization tracks regional compliance. NEAC is a licensing facilitator, not a legal aid service, so active labor disputes should go through these official host-country and diplomatic channels rather than a licensing provider.
