Kuwait announced that it will resume the recruitment of domestic workers from abroad starting from 17 January,  after a hiatus of more than 10 months due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Bahrain’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday that would require migrants to work for three years with their current sponsor before they can transfer to another sponsor.

Saudi Arabia announced the launch of a new electronic complaint service on “Musaned” for disputes between sponsors and recruitment agencies. The new service does not include domestic workers, who are most at risk of abuse.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development has issued a ministerial decision to Saudize 30% of accounting professions in the private sector by 11 June 2021.

According to local media reports, Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior has decided to only grant one-year residency permits to migrant workers and their families, instead of the two-year period which is currently in practice. 

Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior announced that irregular migrants can regularise their status or leave Kuwait between 1 December and 31 December 2020 without being referred to the investigation authorities or be blacklisted from Kuwait, provided that they pay fines.

Oman’s Ministry of Labour announced a one-month grace period until January 2021 for employers to correct the work status of their expatriate workers without paying fines.

The UAE has issued an order to exempt all migrants whose entry and residency permits expired before 1 March from all fines and administrative restrictions, provided that they leave the UAE before 31 December 2020. The previous deadline was 17 November.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior announced that it will no longer grant visa extensions for expired visit visas and residency permits, adding that all residents and visitors with expired visas must leave Kuwait by 30 November to avoid any legal issues.

Oman’s Ministry of Labour announced that expat workers and their employers will be exempt from all fees and fines related to work permits if workers leave the Sultanate permanently between 15 November and 31 December.

Oman announced on 15 October that it will not allow expats whose work permits expired while they were stuck abroad from returning to the Sultanate.

Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports announced on Friday that it will automatically extend the validity of final-exit visas for expatriates in the Kingdom until 31 October 2020 free of charge.

Bahrain’s Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs announced yesterday that it will renew a three-month extension of all visit visas for expatriates automatically and free of charge until 21 January 2021.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have resumed issuing visas for domestic workers after many months of suspension.

Oman’s Ministry of Labour announced a slew of decisions relating to expat workers, in a bid to ease the stress on the private sector.