Gulf Desi Hub

Half the problems workers face in their first year abroad start with a document that was missing, unattested or left at home. Use this list before you fly, and again before every renewal.

Carry these, and email copies to yourself

• Passport with enough validity for the whole contract, plus several blank pages.
• Visa or work permit printout, and the employer’s full name and address.
• Signed employment contract and offer letter — the version you agreed to, with salary, hours, accommodation, food, transport, leave and ticket written in it.
• Medical certificate from the approved centre, and vaccination records.
• Police clearance certificate if your job or country requires it.
• Educational and trade certificates, attested if the job needs them.
• Driving licence plus, if useful, an international driving permit and a licence extract in English.
• Skill and safety cards, trade test results, experience letters from previous employers.
• Photographs to your country’s specification — several, in the size Gulf offices ask for.
• Emigration clearance / overseas worker registration where your country requires it, and your insurance or welfare fund receipt.
• Family documents if you may bring family later: marriage certificate, children’s birth certificates — attested.

Attestation, in plain words

Attestation is a chain of official stamps proving your certificate is genuine. The order is normally: the issuing authority or notary in your home country, then your national foreign ministry, then the Gulf country’s embassy in your home country, and finally the foreign ministry of the Gulf country after you arrive. Degrees, marriage certificates and birth certificates are the documents most often required. Costs and steps differ by country and change, so confirm on your foreign ministry’s official portal and the relevant embassy site before paying anyone. Licensed service centres exist; unlicensed “agents” who take your originals do not.

Four habits that protect you

1. Scan everything and email it to yourself, plus one trusted family member. A phone can be lost; an email account cannot be taken by an employer.
2. Never give originals to an agent or to an employer to “keep safe”. Keeping a worker’s passport is illegal across the GCC.
3. Check the name spelling is identical on passport, visa, contract, certificates and bank account. One different letter can block a salary transfer or a renewal for months.
4. Keep a small folder with copies in your room, separate from the originals.

Which document caused you the most trouble? Tell us in the comments and we will add it to the list.