New rule adds KD 150 fee to work permits and worker transfers
KUWAIT CITY, June 4: First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef issued Ministerial Resolution No. 4 of 2025, amending Resolution No. 3 of 2024. The changes affect work permit procedures, worker transfers, and fees.
The new resolution cancels Article Two of Resolution No. 3 of 2024, which exempted certain sectors from paying additional fees for work permits based on need and approval by the Public Authority for Manpower.
With the cancellation of this article, all previously exempted entities must now pay an additional KD 150 fee for each work permit, whether for new employment or worker transfers.
Entities affected include government-owned companies; hospitals, clinics, and healthcare facilities licensed by the Ministry of Health; private universities, colleges, and schools; and foreign investors approved by the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority. Other affected sectors are sports clubs, federations, public benefit associations, cooperatives, labor unions, charities and endowments, agricultural plots licensed by the General Authority for Agriculture and Fisheries, hunting, livestock pens, grazing operations, commercial and investment real estate, industrial establishments, and small industries.
The resolution also cancels Article Five of the 2024 decision, which required the Public Authority for Manpower's Board to prepare a study on the resolution's impact within one year and submit it, with recommendations, to the relevant minister.
The new resolution signals a significant policy shift toward standardizing fees and tightening control over labor permit issuance and worker transfers across both public and private sectors.
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