PAM Kuwait in 2026: Work Permits, Transfers, Status Checks and Labour Complaints Explained

PAM — the Public Authority of Manpower (also written PAAM; Arabic الهيئة العامة للقوى العاملة) — is Kuwait's private-sector labour authority. It operates under the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour (MOSAL) and governs work permits, employer files, sponsorship transfers, labour contracts and labour-dispute conciliation, under Kuwait Labour Law No. 6 of 2010.

For an expat, PAM is where your Article 18 work permit (the private-sector work residency) is issued, renewed, transferred and checked. You'll use its Ashal e-services portal and the government Sahel super-app. Fees changed in 2025-2026, so the figures below are current at the time of writing — confirm them, as Kuwait does not publish a clean English fee schedule.

Three authorities issue the three things every worker needs, in a fixed order:

The chain runs PAM (permit) → MOI (residency stamp) → PACI (Civil ID), and each step depends on the one before it. See the Kuwait Civil ID guide for the PACI end and the Kuwait iqama renewal guide for the MOI end.

• Ashal (أسهل) — PAM's e-services portal (e-portal.manpower.gov.kw), used to issue, renew, cancel and transfer work permits, register contracts and print a work-permit copy. Login is via Civil ID / Kuwait Mobile ID.
• Sahel (سهل) — Kuwait's unified government super-app, which aggregates MOI, PACI and PAM/MOSAL services: check residency, Civil ID and fines, and issue exit permits.
• Kuwait Mobile ID ("Hawiyti") — the national digital-identity app used to authenticate logins to Sahel and Ashal.

Setting up the Kuwait Mobile ID first is the practical starting point, because it unlocks the others.

You can check each part of your status online by Civil ID:

• Work permit status — the Ashal / PAM e-services portal (enter Civil ID or passport number).
• Residency (iqama) status — the Sahel app under MOI services (shows iqama expiry, article type, sponsor and fines).
• Civil ID status — Sahel under PACI services, or the PACI site.

It's worth checking your iqama expiry and any fines periodically — an overstay or unpaid fine can block a renewal or transfer. See the Kuwait overstay fine guide and the Kuwait travel-ban check.

The Article 18 permit is private-sector work residency tied to a specific employer. For a new hire the order is PAM work permit → MOI residency stamp → PACI Civil ID.

• Work permit fee: a flat KWD 150 per permit applies after Ministerial Resolution No. 4 of 2025 (effective June 2025), which removed earlier sector exemptions. (Sources frame this variously as an issuance or transfer fee, so treat the KWD 150 as the core permit fee and confirm how it applies to your case.)
• Iqama (residency) renewal: KWD 20 per year for standard expats including Article 18, effective 23 December 2025 (charged by MOI, not PAM).
• Mandatory health insurance: KWD 100 per year, effective 23 December 2025 — residency is not issued or renewed without a valid policy.

These late-2025 increases (health insurance up to KWD 100, iqama renewal up to KWD 20) caught many residents out, so budget for the current amounts, not older figures.

The headline rules on moving to a new employer:

• Without the current employer's consent: allowed after 3 years from the work-permit issuance date.
• With employer consent (a release/NOC): allowed earlier — commonly after 1 year and before 3 years.
• Early transfer (before completing 3 years) can carry an additional fee (reported around KWD 300 on top of the permit fee — secondary sources, so verify).

Recent relaxations (effective March 2025) let workers on concluded government contracts move to the private sector with both employers' consent, and let some older dependents move to a private-sector sponsorship. Transfers also interact with Kuwait's exit-permit rule for Article 18 workers. The full mechanics and costs are in our dedicated guide: transferring on Article 18 before 3 years.

Because the process runs in a fixed chain, a stall at one authority blocks the rest. The usual culprits and where to look:

• Employer/quota issue at PAM. If the work permit isn't being issued, the block is often on the employer's manpower file or quota — check the Ashal portal status and press the employer.
• Unpaid fines or overstay at MOI. Residency won't renew over an outstanding fine or an overstay — check status on Sahel and clear it (see the Kuwait overstay fine guide).
• Health insurance not active. Since residency won't issue or renew without a valid policy, an expired or missing insurance is a common silent blocker.
• Civil ID lagging at PACI. If the iqama is stamped but the Civil ID hasn't followed, chase PACI — see the Civil ID guide.

Work the chain in order — PAM, then MOI, then PACI — and check each status online before assuming the next step is the problem.

If an employer withholds wages or breaches the contract, PAM is the mandatory first step before court:

1. Conciliation. File a complaint with PAM's labour relations department (in person, by phone, or online). PAM mediates for an amicable settlement — reported to take up to around 10 working days.
2. Referral to court. If conciliation fails, PAM refers the case to the competent court, and labour cases are exempt from court fees for workers. A first judgment typically takes several months.

Keep every document — contract, pay records, messages — as the case turns on evidence.

Kuwait made several changes that directly affect the cost and rules of holding a work permit — worth knowing because older guides (and budgets) are now out of date:

• Uniform work-permit fee (Resolution No. 4 of 2025, June 2025). A flat KWD 150 permit fee was applied and earlier sector exemptions — for government-owned firms, healthcare, schools and universities, investors, agriculture, industry and charities — were removed, along with the previous one-year "impact study" requirement.
• Higher residency fees (23 December 2025). Iqama renewal rose to KWD 20 per year and mandatory health insurance to KWD 100 per year.
• Transfer relaxations (March 2025). Workers on concluded government contracts can move to the private sector with both employers' consent, and some older dependents can shift to a private-sector sponsorship.
• Exit-permit rule. Article 18 private-sector workers need an employer-approved exit permit, issued via Sahel, to leave the country.

Because these are recent and some figures are reported inconsistently across sources, confirm the exact amount and rule that applies to your permit before you budget or plan a move.

Domestic workers in Kuwait fall under a separate regime from the standard Article 18 private-sector process. Their permits, contracts and dispute handling are governed by the domestic-labour rules rather than the general private-sector labour law, and PAM's role and the sponsorship arrangements differ accordingly.

If you are hiring or employed as a domestic worker, don't assume the Article 18 fees, transfer timelines and complaint routes described here apply unchanged — the domestic-worker framework has its own contracts, protections and procedures. Confirm the specifics for that category before relying on the general private-sector rules.

• Budgeting on old fees. Health insurance is now KWD 100/year and iqama renewal KWD 20/year since late 2025 — higher than before.
• Assuming free transfer any time. Without employer consent, transfer is only after 3 years; earlier moves need a release and can carry an extra fee.
• Confusing the authorities. Work permit is PAM; residency stamp is MOI; Civil ID is PACI — and they must be done in that order.
• Ignoring the exit-permit rule. Article 18 workers need an employer-approved exit permit (via Sahel) to leave, which also matters during a transfer.
• Going to court first. PAM conciliation is the required first stage for a labour dispute.

Between PAM, MOI and PACI — and the 2025 fee and transfer changes — Kuwait's work-permit process has a lot of moving parts, and a single wrong step or unpaid fine stalls your iqama. A services desk keeps it in order.

Wathim handles Kuwait work permits, residency, transfers and Civil ID end to end. Contact us to have it managed. Related reading: the Kuwait iqama renewal guide, transferring on Article 18 before 3 years, the Civil ID guide, and the overstay fine guide. Everything Kuwait is on the Kuwait services hub.