Among the questions most often asked by expatriate workers in Kuwait, whether employed in the private sector or as domestic workers, is one that sounds simple but carries heavy consequences: my employer is holding my passport and refuses to give it back. Is that allowed, and how do I get it back? A passport is not an ordinary document. It is a foreign resident's primary proof of identity: it is needed to travel, to deal with one's embassy, and to complete residency and banking procedures. A worker deprived of it is left in a fragile position, where it becomes easy to pressure him into staying in a job or giving up his rights.
Employers offer a range of justifications. Some say the worker handed the passport over voluntarily for "safekeeping". Others hold it as "security" for a salary advance or for recruitment costs. Some tie its return to annual leave travel, or to the worker dropping a request to transfer residency to another employer, and in domestic work the passport sometimes ends up at the recruitment office. The same practice can extend to the civil ID card, the experience certificate, or original educational certificates. Each of these situations requires a careful distinction between lawful safekeeping with the worker's consent and unlawful retention that gives rise to liability.
We have covered the general framework of expatriate workers' rights in Foreign Workers' Rights in Kuwait, domestic workers' rights in Domestic Workers' Rights in Kuwait: A Guide to Law No. 68 of 2015, and the complaint process in Filing a Labour Complaint in Kuwait. This article focuses specifically on the retention of passports and personal documents: the legal position, the employer's usual arguments and how they are answered, the practical route to recovering the passport, compensation, and the point at which the matter moves beyond a labour dispute into possible criminal conduct.
The Short Answer
An employer may not keep a worker's passport against the worker's will, whether in the private sector or in domestic employment. A passport is an official document issued by the worker's own state and held personally by the worker. It is not the employer's property, and it cannot serve as security for a debt or for recruitment costs. The Domestic Labour Law No. 68 of 2015 expressly prohibits an employer from keeping a domestic worker's passport or personal documents, and the rules regulating the private-sector labour market treat the practice as a violation that exposes the business to accountability.
If a worker voluntarily hands over the passport for safekeeping, that arrangement does not give the employer a right to refuse its return. The passport must be returned whenever the worker asks for it. A refusal after a request turns "safekeeping" into unlawful retention.
The practical route to recovery starts with a documented written request, followed by a complaint to the competent Labour Department (private sector) or to the authority responsible for domestic labour (domestic workers), with the option of a report to the police station in case of refusal or threats, and ultimately a court claim for return of the document and compensation. In serious cases, where retention is combined with restriction of movement, forced labour or exploitation, the Law on Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants No. 91 of 2013 may apply, as assessed by the investigating authorities and the courts.
The Legal Framework
The rules governing passport and document retention are spread over several pieces of legislation, each with its own role:
- Private Sector Labour Law No. 6 of 2010: governs employment in private companies and establishments. It is built on protecting the worker as the weaker party, invalidates arrangements that reduce the worker's statutory rights, and requires labour disputes to be brought first as a complaint before the competent Labour Department before going to court. Alongside it, regulatory decisions issued by the labour-market authorities prohibit employers from keeping workers' passports and treat this as a violation.
- Domestic Labour Law No. 68 of 2015: governs the relationship of domestic workers (housemaids, private drivers, cooks and similar) with their employers and with recruitment offices. It expressly prohibits the employer from keeping the worker's passport or personal documents, and designates a competent authority to hear complaints and attempt settlement before referral to court.
- Penal Code No. 16 of 1960: relevant where retention is combined with criminal acts such as threats, coercion, unlawful confinement or assault, depending on the legal characterisation of the facts.
- Law No. 91 of 2013 on Combating Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants: relevant in serious cases where document retention is one of the means used to exploit a worker, such as forced labour or conditions akin to servitude. We discuss it in detail in Combating Human Trafficking in Kuwait.
- Civil Code No. 67 of 1980: governs liability for harmful acts and compensation, deposit (safekeeping) and the depositary's duty to return the item on demand, and defects of consent such as duress. All of these come into play in passport disputes.
- Civil and Commercial Procedure Law No. 38 of 1980: governs litigation and enforcement, including the lawful tools a genuine creditor actually has to secure a claim, such as precautionary attachment and a court-ordered travel ban, each subject to its own conditions.
- Legislation on the residence of foreigners: governs residency, its transfer and cancellation, and departure. Many forms of pressure used by some employers are linked to it; see Residency and Deportation Cases in Kuwait.
Note that the competent administrative bodies and their procedures can change by regulatory decision, as happened when responsibility for domestic labour was assigned to the Public Authority for Manpower. It is therefore sensible to confirm the competent body and the method of filing at the time of filing, either through the Authority's official channels or with a lawyer.
The Substantive Rules
1. The passport belongs in the worker's hands, not the employer's
A passport is an official document issued by the worker's state in the worker's name, and it is the worker who is entitled to hold and use it. The employer acquires no right over it merely because he is the worker's sponsor or paid for the recruitment. The employment relationship gives the employer authority to manage and supervise the work within the limits of the contract and the law; it does not give him control over the worker's identity documents or freedom of movement.
In practice, an employer does not need to hold the original passport to process residency and work permits. A copy is usually sufficient, or the passport can be handed over temporarily for a transaction and returned as soon as it is completed. Keeping it afterwards without the worker's consent is retention without legal basis, and describing it as "protecting the passport from loss" does not change that.
2. The "safekeeping" or "consent" argument
Some employers have workers sign, on hiring, a declaration that the passport has been deposited with the company or household "for safekeeping". This argument fails on several grounds:
- A deposit must be returned on demand: even if the worker genuinely consented to safekeeping, the rule of deposit is that the depositary must return the item whenever the depositor asks. Consent to safekeeping is not consent to being denied the passport, and the worker's request alone ends any justification for the employer to keep it.
- Consent imposed as a condition of work is not real consent: where signing the declaration was a condition of being hired or of keeping the job, it is closer to adhesion than to free consent, and cannot be used against the worker to defeat protection that exists for his benefit.
- Parties cannot contract out of statutory protection: worker-protection rules are in principle matters of public order, and an agreement contrary to them has no effect against the worker.
A so-called "passport custody register" therefore justifies nothing once the worker asks for the passport and is refused. The practical advice is to make the request in writing or by a message that can be proved, so that the situation is documented as a "refusal after request" rather than "safekeeping with consent".
3. Holding the passport as security for a debt or recruitment costs
Another common argument is: "the worker owes me an advance", or "I paid to bring him here and I do not want him to leave". This is not a lawful basis for retention. A passport is not an asset of the worker that can be pledged or withheld to secure a debt; it is an official document of a foreign state that may not be used as leverage to collect money.
The law does not leave a genuine creditor without remedy. An employer with a real claim against a worker can pursue it in court and, where the conditions are met, may seek precautionary attachment or a travel ban by court order. These are tools granted by the court under strict conditions, not by the employer's own decision. Collecting a debt by holding the passport is not permitted and can backfire into liability and compensation. See Precautionary Attachment in Kuwaiti Law.
As for recruitment costs specifically, the Domestic Labour Law regulates the relationship between the employer and the recruitment office and places specific responsibilities on the office during the guarantee period. It does not make the worker a guarantor of those costs to be recovered by holding his documents. Disputes about recruitment fees or refunds belong between the employer and the office.
4. The passport at the recruitment office
In domestic work, the passport may be at the recruitment office rather than with the household, whether during the trial or guarantee period, when the worker is returned to the office, or during a dispute between the employer and the office over a refund or replacement. The office is in no better position than the employer. It is a licensed body supervised by the authority responsible for domestic labour, and it may not keep a worker's documents against the worker's will or use them to pressure either the worker or the employer.
Where the employer and the office each claim the other has the passport, the complaint to the domestic labour authority should be directed against both. That authority can summon them, establish who holds the passport, and require its return. We outline the parties' obligations in Domestic Labour in Kuwait: Contracts, Rights and Disputes.
5. Tying the passport to travel or residency transfer
Typical statements include: "you will get your passport at the airport when you travel", "I will return it only if you withdraw your transfer request", or "sign the settlement first, then take your passport". Each of these turns the passport into a pressure tool, which is exactly what the law prohibits.
- Handing it over only at the airport: deprives the worker of his document for the entire period of residence, with no legal basis. Even if some employers do this in good faith to prevent loss, it does not justify refusing a worker who asks for it.
- Conditioning return on dropping a residency transfer: transferring residency to another employer is governed by separate administrative conditions, and the passport cannot be used to force the worker to stay. See Sponsorship and Residency Transfer in Kuwait.
- Conditioning return on signing a settlement: a settlement signed under pressure to obtain one's passport may be open to challenge, and the court will assess the circumstances of signing and whether consent was sound. See Settlements and Releases in Kuwaiti Law.
Retention is often combined with a threat to file an absconding report if the worker leaves or complains. Such a report has serious consequences for the worker's status, but a retaliatory report does not extinguish the worker's rights. The worker should document the complaint before any counter-report is filed, because having recorded the facts first supports his account and exposes the retaliatory nature of a later report.
6. Civil ID, experience certificate and educational certificates
Retention is not limited to passports. An employer may hold the worker's civil ID card, which the worker needs for almost every transaction in Kuwait, or the original educational certificates submitted on hiring, or refuse to provide an experience certificate at the end of employment.
- Civil ID: treated like the passport as a personal document that the employer may not withhold. If it cannot be recovered, the worker should record this in the complaint and police report, and may ask the civil ID authority about the procedure available in his case.
- Original certificates: the employer can inspect them or keep a copy; holding the originals to pressure the worker or block a move to another job is not permitted.
- Experience certificate: at the end of employment the worker is entitled to a certificate stating the period and nature of service, and it may not be made conditional on waiving rights. See Notice Pay, Experience Certificates and End-of-Service Entitlements.
7. When does retention become possible criminal conduct?
In many cases passport retention remains a labour and administrative dispute, resolved by complaint, an order to return the document, and compensation. The position changes when retention is combined with other conduct, such as:
- threats, or physical or psychological abuse;
- preventing the worker from leaving the workplace or accommodation, or confining him there;
- forcing the worker to work unpaid, for a token wage far below the contract, or for exhausting hours without rest, while using the passport to keep him trapped;
- recruiting a worker for a non-existent job, then leaving him without real work while holding his documents to extract money.
In such cases provisions of the Penal Code may apply according to the proper characterisation of the conduct, and the facts may go further and raise suspicion of trafficking in persons under Law No. 91 of 2013 if its elements (act, means, and purpose of exploitation) are present. That assessment belongs to the investigating authorities and the courts on the facts of each case. Not every passport retention is trafficking, and serious cases should not be downplayed either. What matters is that a worker in this situation should not stop at a labour complaint but report to the security authorities immediately, and may seek help from his embassy.
8. Compensation
Retaining a passport without right is a fault that gives rise to compensation where it causes harm, under the civil liability rules discussed in Tort Liability in the Kuwaiti Civil Code. Recoverable heads of harm may include:
- Material harm: a lost job opportunity with another employer because the passport was unavailable, the cost of obtaining a replacement travel document, a cancelled ticket, or fines caused by a transaction that could not be completed on time.
- Moral harm: anxiety, a sense of powerlessness, and being unable to visit family or attend a family event.
There is no fixed statutory amount; the court assesses compensation according to the proven harm and the duration and circumstances of the retention. The worker must prove both the retention and the harm, which is why documents, messages and witnesses matter. The claim is usually brought within the labour case together with other entitlements, or as a civil claim attached to criminal proceedings where these exist.
Principles of the Court of Cassation
We do not cite numbered published judgments on passport retention as such. Instead, we set out general principles that the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation has consistently applied in related matters and that are routinely relied on in these disputes:
- Worker protection is a matter of public order: the Court of Cassation has consistently held that the Labour Law sets the minimum level of workers' rights, and that any term reducing them is void unless it is more favourable to the worker.
- Proof of employment: a worker may prove the employment relationship and its terms by all means of evidence, which helps where the contract or documents are in the employer's hands.
- Settlements are read narrowly: a settlement releases only the rights it clearly identifies, and the trial court may assess the circumstances of its signing and whether consent was sound.
- Assessment of compensation: assessing compensation for material and moral harm is a question of fact for the trial court, provided it identifies the elements of harm and gives sound reasons.
- Effect of a criminal judgment: a final criminal judgment binds the civil court as to what it necessarily decided regarding the occurrence of the act and its attribution to the perpetrator.
Methodological note: we have deliberately avoided citing appeal numbers or judgment dates, since precise citation requires the official law reports. The principles above are stated in general terms reflecting settled case law and must be checked against the facts of each case and any later legislative or regulatory change. We have likewise not cited the specific article numbers prohibiting passport retention or the amount of any penalties, since those details require reference to the official text in force at the time of the dispute.
Practical Steps and Documents
The steps below run from the mildest to the most serious. A worker can start at whichever stage fits the situation; where there are threats or restriction of movement, there is no place for a gradual approach, and a report to the security authorities comes first.
Step 1: A documented request
Ask for your passport in writing, by text message, email or a letter received by the employer or HR. State that you are requesting the return of your original passport and give the date. The purpose is to record that the passport is with the employer and that you asked for it and were refused or ignored.
Step 2: A complaint to the competent authority
- Private-sector workers: file a complaint with the competent Labour Department of the Public Authority for Manpower for your area. The complaint can include a request for return of the passport alongside other claims, such as unpaid wages. The Department summons the employer and attempts a settlement; if none is reached, it refers the dispute to court. See Filing a Labour Complaint in Kuwait.
- Domestic workers: file a complaint with the authority responsible for domestic labour, which hears disputes between domestic workers, employers and recruitment offices and attempts settlement before referral to court.
Reporting the violation to the competent inspection body can also help, since passport retention is one of the violations checked during workplace inspections; see Labour Inspection and Compliance in Kuwait.
Step 3: A police report
If the employer refuses despite a request, or the refusal comes with threats, abuse or restriction of movement, the worker can file a report at the competent police station recording the facts. This does two things: it officially documents the retention, and it protects the worker against later claims that he lost the passport or absconded.
Step 4: The embassy and replacement travel documents
A worker who needs to travel urgently and cannot recover the passport may ask his embassy whether a replacement or emergency travel document can be issued under its own rules. Embassies often ask for proof of the retention, such as the police report or complaint. This remains subject to each country's rules and to Kuwait's departure and residency procedures.
Step 5: Court proceedings
If the administrative stage does not resolve the dispute, it is referred to the competent court, where the worker can seek an order for the return of the passport and documents, compensation for harm, and his other labour entitlements such as unpaid wages and end-of-service indemnity. Labour claims brought by workers are in principle exempt from court fees, which makes access to the courts easier.
Documents that help
- A copy of the passport and residency details (keep these on your phone and in your email at all times).
- A copy of the civil ID.
- The employment contract or any proof of employment, such as salary transfer records.
- Any "safekeeping" declaration you signed, or the company's custody register.
- Messages in which you asked for your passport, and any replies.
- Names and phone numbers of witnesses, such as colleagues.
- Proof of harm: a cancelled ticket, a lost job offer, fines incurred.
- The number of any complaint or police report already filed.
Hypothetical Cases
Case 1: A company employee who signed a "safekeeping" declaration
Hypothetical facts: a worker at a contracting company signed a declaration on hiring that his passport was deposited with the company. Three years later he needs to travel for a family emergency and asks for it. Management refuses, saying company policy is to release passports only for approved annual leave.
Legal analysis: the declaration does not entitle the company to hold the passport; safekeeping ends when the worker asks for it, and internal policy does not override the law. The worker should put his request in writing, file a complaint with the Labour Department, and may file a police report if the refusal continues. If he misses the family event or incurs costs because of the refusal, he may claim compensation for proven material and moral harm.
Case 2: A domestic worker whose passport is caught between the household and the office
Hypothetical facts: a housemaid is returned by her employer to the recruitment office during the guarantee period. The employer says he gave the passport to the office; the office says it never received it; the worker wants to go home.
Legal analysis: the worker files a complaint with the domestic labour authority against both the employer and the office. The authority can summon both, establish who holds the passport, and require its return. She may also contact her embassy if the position remains unclear. Whoever is shown to have kept the passport, or lost it through negligence, bears liability for the resulting harm.
Case 3: Passport held, threats, and confinement
Hypothetical facts: a farm worker's passport and civil ID have been held since arrival. He has not been paid for several months, is not allowed to leave the farm, and is threatened with an absconding report and deportation if he complains.
Legal analysis: this goes well beyond an ordinary labour dispute: document retention, withheld wages, restricted movement and threats are all present. Depending on what is proven, it may raise suspicion of offences under the Penal Code, and of trafficking in persons under Law No. 91 of 2013 if its elements are established. The priority is a report to the security authorities and a request for protection, together with a labour complaint for wages and compensation, and contact with the embassy.
Quick Comparison
- Passport kept for safekeeping with consent: acceptable until the worker asks for it; must be returned on request. Action: written request, then complaint if refused.
- Held as security for a debt or recruitment costs: unlawful; the employer must pursue any claim through the courts. Action: complaint, police report, demand for return.
- Passport at the recruitment office: unlawful if against the worker's will. Action: complaint to the domestic labour authority against the office and the employer.
- Return tied to travel, dropping a transfer, or signing a settlement: unlawful; a settlement signed under that pressure may be challenged. Action: complaint and documentation of the circumstances.
- Civil ID or original certificates held: unlawful. Action: the same written request and complaint.
- Experience certificate refused: breach of the worker's end-of-service rights. Action: include it in the labour complaint.
- Retention with threats, confinement or forced labour: possible criminal conduct, potentially trafficking. Action: immediate report to the security authorities and request for protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer keep my passport because I signed a declaration?
No. The declaration does not allow him to refuse. Once you ask for your passport, he must return it; refusal after a request is unlawful retention.
My employer says the passport is security for an advance I took. Is that allowed?
No. A passport cannot secure a debt. The employer can claim the advance through legal channels, not by holding your passport.
Where do I complain if I work for a company?
To the competent Labour Department of the Public Authority for Manpower for your area. The complaint can include a request for the passport alongside other claims.
Where does a domestic worker complain?
To the authority responsible for domestic labour, which handles disputes between domestic workers, employers and recruitment offices. Check the place and method of filing at the time, as administrative arrangements can change.
Can I file a report at a police station?
Yes, particularly if the employer refuses despite your request, or the refusal comes with threats or abuse. The report documents the facts and protects you against later allegations.
My employer threatened an absconding report if I complain. What should I do?
Document your complaint before any counter-report is filed and keep evidence of the threat. A retaliatory report does not cancel your rights, and recording the facts first supports your account.
Can a recruitment office keep a housemaid's passport?
No. The office may not hold the worker's passport against her will or use it as leverage, and it is supervised by the domestic labour authority.
My employer refuses my residency transfer and keeps my passport. Are the two linked?
No. Residency transfer is governed by separate administrative rules, and your right to your passport exists whether or not the employer agrees to the transfer.
I signed a settlement to get my passport back. Can I challenge it?
Possibly. A settlement releases only what it clearly identifies, and the court assesses the circumstances of signing. Keep anything showing that signing was a condition for getting your passport.
Am I entitled to compensation for the period my passport was held?
Yes, if unlawful retention and resulting material or moral harm are proven. The court assesses the amount case by case; there is no fixed figure.
Is passport retention human trafficking?
Not necessarily. Retention on its own is usually a violation and a labour dispute, but combined with exploitation, forced labour or restriction of liberty it may fall within Law No. 91 of 2013, as assessed by the investigating authorities and the courts.
My employer is holding my civil ID, not my passport. Is it different?
No. The civil ID is a personal document that may not be withheld, and the same route applies: written request, complaint, and a police report if needed.
How can I protect myself from the start?
Keep clear copies of your passport, residency and contract on your phone and in your email, do not sign a passport custody declaration without keeping a copy, and ask for your passport in writing whenever you need it.
Conclusion
Passport retention is one of the most common practices in the labour market and one of the most damaging for workers, because it removes their freedom of movement and their ability to defend their rights. The rule under Kuwaiti law is clear: the passport belongs with its holder; it may be kept by an employer only with the worker's consent and must be returned on request; and no argument based on safekeeping, debt or recruitment costs justifies withholding it.
The route to recovery is clear and graduated: a documented request, a complaint to the Labour Department or the domestic labour authority, a police report where needed, and court proceedings for return of the document and compensation. Cases involving threats, confinement or forced labour call for immediate action by the security authorities without waiting for the labour process.
For employers, returning passports to their holders does not harm their interests. It spares them administrative accountability and compensation claims, and possibly criminal exposure they had not anticipated. Any genuine concern about debts or costs has lawful remedies of its own.
Legal Notice
This article provides general legal information about Kuwaiti law and does not constitute legal advice or create a lawyer-client relationship. The rules described are subject to legislative and regulatory change and to judicial application on the facts of each case, and the competent administrative bodies and their procedures may change, so they should be verified at the time of filing.
If an employer or recruitment office is holding your passport, civil ID or certificates, or you are an employer seeking to bring your business into compliance, the team at Yumnaak Law Firm can review your situation, prepare the complaint or claim, and pursue it through to the return of your documents and recovery of compensation and entitlements. Contact us through our Contact Us page or book an appointment.
