If you are coming to Oman for work — or already there and thinking about your next job — a new set of rules from 1 January 2027 changes what a recruitment office is allowed to do to you. And the most important part is simple: nobody recruiting you for Oman is allowed to charge you a fee for it.
Oman’s Ministry of Labour issued Ministerial Decision No. 390/2026 on 11 October 2026, replacing recruitment rules that had stood since 2011. From 1 January 2027, only offices licensed by the ministry may recruit non-Omani workers, and those offices must be Omani-owned, hold a RO 5,000 financial guarantee with the ministry, and use ministry-approved forms for job offers and contracts.
What this means for you, in plain terms:
- No recruitment fees. A licensed office must not collect any fee or amount from you for recruitment or employment. If someone asks you to pay to get placed in Oman, that is now a clear rule breach, not a grey area.
- Your passport stays yours. An office must not keep your passport or official documents unless you give written consent.
- A written offer on a standard form. Offices must use the ministry’s prescribed job-offer and contract forms, arrange your pre-entry medical examination, and provide insurance coverage for each service contract.
- A deadline and a guarantee. Recruitment must be completed within 45 days of the service contract. If the placement falls through, the service guarantee runs two years for domestic workers and 90 days for workers recruited for companies — with refunds where the guarantee applies.
There are teeth behind it too: RO 100 per worker for recruiting domestic workers through unlicensed channels, RO 50 per contract for skipping the approved contracts or job offers, and RO 500 plus possible licence cancellation for transferring a licence without authorisation. Existing licences stay valid until they expire; renewals must meet the new rules.
One honest caveat: these rules govern recruitment offices, not every employer hiring directly. They do not verify that any single job offer is genuine. Check the office’s licence, get the standard-form offer in writing before you travel, and never pay a recruitment fee.
Sources (plain text): Oman’s Ministry of Labour, Ministerial Decision No. 390/2026 (issued 11 October 2026, effective 1 January 2027), reported by Times of Oman; Muscat Daily (via Gulf Insider); The Arabian Stories (11 Oct 2026); People Matters (26 Oct 2026).