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Kuwait Labour Law

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Labour Law › Employment & Labour Force

Article 10: Employment of Foreign Labor

In force

In simple words

A company can only employ a foreign worker who has a valid work permit for that company. It must not bring workers to Kuwait and then leave them without work; if it does, it must pay their ticket home. If a worker runs away and works for someone else, the new employer must pay to send him home once an absconding report has been filed.

Example

Brought to Kuwait with no job

Situation

Rahim arrives on a company work visa, but the company says it has no work and tells him to find a job himself.

What the law says

This is illegal. An employer cannot recruit workers it doesn’t actually need, and must pay their ticket home if it does. Recruiting workers without employing them (“visa trading”) can be punished by up to 3 years in prison and a KD 1,000 fine (Article 138). Rahim should complain to the Public Authority for Manpower.

Names are made up for illustration.

Official text of Article 10
The employer is banned to employ foreign labour force unless they are duly authorized by the Competent Authority to work for him. The Minister shall issue a decision on the rules, documents and fees to be charged from the employer. In case of refusal, the refusal decision shall be reasonable.
Furthermore, the refusal decision shall not be relevant to the capital amount, otherwise the decision shall be entirely null as if it is not issued. An employer shall not recruit labourers from outside the country or appoint labourers from inside the country without making them to work for him.
If it is evident that he is not actually in need of those labourers, in this case, the employer shall bear the expenses for returning the labourer to his country. If the worker abandons coming to his work and worked for another employer, the employer shall be obliged to return the employer back to his home country, upon registering an absconding notice against the worker by his main sponsor.
Reference & sources

Kuwait Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010, Article 10 (Employment of Foreign Labor), Official Gazette Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue No. 963 (2010). Checked October 2026.

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General information, not legal advice. The Arabic text of the law is the official version (Article 29). For your case, contact the Public Authority for Manpower or a lawyer.