Wasn’t there a law that got released that says companies can not take the passports of their employees? I thought that there was but I could be mistaken. The place where a friend works now are demanding all employees hand in their passports or else they won’t get paid. Do they have a right to do this?
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36 replies on “Are they allowed to take your passport?”
From Arab Times…
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah has issued a decision banning private companies from keeping the passports of their employees, say sources. A reliable source said Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid’s decision is aimed at solving the shortcomings of the existing Private Sector Labor Law and answering the points raised by the US State Department, which has included Kuwait in the list of countries which are involved in human trafficking. According to the minister’s decision the Labor Departments will have the authority to take necessary action against any employer who violates the law, he added.
This is a recent article right?
Thanks
This is old school regulations..unfortunatly is still applied in most companies…
I may be mistaken but I thought the law had ALWAYS said that nobody could keep your passport-so what is all the fuss about the new law?
If you are in a position to do so, ask your company to put in writing that they are requesting your passport, if they will not return it, go to the Shehoon ( spell?) and show them the paper. Are you sure they aren’t just keeping it to formalise iqama procedures?
they do it so that the worker will NEVER run away! Mwahahahaha!
no, its not legal tho it happens a lot. Your passport is the property of your government and can be taken back from you at any point. NO one else has the right to retain it.
DOLE ~ Starting October 1, 2006:
Foreign domestic workers including domestic helpers in Kuwait are no longer allowed to transfer residence to another sponsor or find other jobs while in this country, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.
The new directive would also oblige employers to pay for the repatriation ticket and surrender the passport of the foreign domestic workers who ran away, regardless of the number of months the workers had stayed with them.
The new directive would also put an end to the old practice wherein employers keep the domestic workers’ passport, and later on collect release money in exchange of the passport of those who may run away from them.
yes the article poison posted was very recent, it was there in AT just a few days ago.
making the law is one thing, enforcing the law is another, sadly, as many a expat has found out the hardway !
i just received my passport from the folks in HR today, 2 days before i go on a short break !!
i guess its the price we have to pay for calling this country home for so many years !
i really don’t know why people still agree to surrender their passports to their employers!! there is a law against it so the law is on their side! when i worked in kuwait they asked the same and i refused and nothing happened!! these days they only apply that to people with sensitive positions!! ie. they have access to lots of cash!.
In most private companies you’ve got to surrender your passport when your residence is transfered to that company. Then when you go on vacation, you have to give them your civil ID in exchange for your passport. I’ve heard about it from a lot of expats.
They cannot take your passport – period.
Miss Blueeyes wrote:
“They cannot take your passport – period”.
Well, they do. So there.
Slavery !
I never gave my passport to anyone. I made it very clear that I would never do so from day 1. When they tried to take it when one of the employees suddenly left the country I refused again and told them my government would not allow it and that I can complain to the UN. They never tried taking it again.
sorry – they CAN take your passport.
Kuwait did not ratify the “International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families”
https://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/ratification/13.htm
It is only this convention that specifies a country should NOT hold the passports of any migrant worker.
So Miss Blueeyes, I’m afraid you’re wrong – they CAN take your passport. And they will if you happen to be of a nationality unlikely to fight such a requirement.
ALL YOU EXPATS ARE BELONG TO US
Abraaj: MAN YOU IS EMBARRASSING WE KUWAITIS WITH YOU GRAMMAR MISTAKES!!
Mark, As far as I know, and as per the kuwaiti law, companies aren’t allowed to do it.. but they do it anyway & especially banks where there is cash-related issues involved. See its either this, you wanna work as per the company’s regulations, ur ok. But if you wanna work as per the country’s regulation… then we don’t need you!
Abraaj….. So I guess I are belonging to an asshole.
#17 try learning english dude.
Abraaj wrote it correctly, you guys just didn’t get it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_belong_to_us
But they force us to give our passport to them. What can i do???
Sam, you can resign.. or sue them for taking ur passport & then get sacked :p
fucked up situation huh!
hehhe lolz. Resign ??? we cant change our residence also.
As the saying goes Keifiiii!!!
Sue them, just call the ministry of labor and Sue them.
They are violating the law !!!!
OMFG talk about arrogant ignorant noobs
Read reply 16.
you CANNOT sue them, they DID NOT sign the convention allowing migrant workers to retain their passports.
fyi,
they not only took their passport. they also hold it till you in the airport.
ok, one of my friend resign for some-company. he didn’t get the last salary (the contract said that), and he cannot take his passport till 2 or 3 hours before he go to his country.
such a weird company
“fatfukka” (nice name) is correct about the lack of signing the resolution BUT: (1) Sheikh Sabah’s decision still stands; and (2) it doesn’t detract from the fact – mentioned by “mr a” – that the passport itself isn’t owned by the employee at all but is the property of the relevant foreign government. If the relevant embassy demands it back, the employer cannot retain it as it has no right whatsoever to retain it. This has happened on a number of occasions but with only limited success. If the embassies had some more confidence in themselves they would apply direct pressure and the pincer movement of the recent Ministry of Social Affairs decision, and Embassy pressure, should slowly prevail over what I personally think is an abusive, racist and anachronistic procedure.
i don’t think the laws are the problem. its implementing them and ensuring that you have a system that ensures there implementation. Plus, how can the Ministry overtake some serious business personalities, to whom top officials in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, probably owe huge favors?
Have the Embassies of Indonesia, the Phillipines, India, Sri Lanka, et al. ever asked for their citizen’s passports back from a Kuwaiti sponsor? Not that I’m aware of.
Alrighty, heres my two-cents on this one: When I first starting recruiting for the company from the UK, we did not collect passports as we did not think that this would be benefcicial to company reputation, as well as the fact that we wanted to break-free of the current mold. The result? Two girls in our Kuwait branch just ‘up n left, after we spent so much money on their tickets, training, travels, accomodations and package, and two girls in Dubai left as well. One even stole company property, laptop, money, and car, which we found valeted two weeks later with the help of the police. So now on all contracts, it clearly says that company will hold all passports and will return them whenever employer asks for them to travel. Im sorry if expats dont like it, but i need to protect myself as well.
Just give them the passports, then go to your embassy and get a replacement since you lost the first. easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! 🙂
The law was passed in responce to the USA putting Kuwait on the Black List of countries who allow human trafficing. Kuwait was quiet upset at this and was an issued in parlament in the days that followed. It believe that Kuwait is attempting to clear it name by passing this law. Serveral companies have been disbared from doing busines with the US contracts because it of this reason. This is a common tactic used in trafficing which most know little about. It is rapidly comming to the forefront of the worlds number one problem.
The Indian Embassy requested it, informally. I don’t think they have the approval from ‘on high’ to push it further, for fear of reprisals/further quota restrictions. Ari: I understand your concern (and I have also had to deal with the cost of abscondees) but that could happen in any country at any time. Conventionally, if somebody steals something you try to have them arrested but if they have left the country, you either pursue them in the courts and get leave to serve outside the jurisdiction or (generally) you give up. That’s just the way it is. Or rather, should be. Withholding fundamental liberties is another level entirely and I believe it is unsupportable. A Kuwaiti friend of mine had his passport taken from him for an hour at Heathrow and was apoplectic with rage. How about the UK, India etc. take all Kuwaitis’ passports when working there and only let them travel when the employer wants, just in case they abscond. See how that makes Kuwaiti’s feel. Level playing field? Not likely. Endemic racism (not from Ari, but Kuwaiti society)? Most certainly.