Country guide · 7 min read · Updated October 2026
Hiring in Iraq: the work permit, Iraqi workers first and the contract, step by step
How you hire in Iraq without an entity of your own: the work permit step by step, moving someone already in Iraq, the rule that Iraqi workers come first, the contract, the employee test, leave, and what has changed.
What does it take to hire a foreign national in Iraq?
In federal Iraq, a foreign national needs a work permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs before starting work. It is granted only where no qualified Iraqi job seeker is available. Foreign workers may make up at most 50% of a project's staff. The permit runs for a year and is renewed each year. A residence card follows from the Ministry of Interior. Through Global Kinect EOR, each step is arranged without an entity of your own.
Follow the steps for a foreign national
Iraq's Labour Law lets no foreign national start work, in any capacity, before a work permit is issued. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs' instructions of 2026 set the steps.
These are federal Iraq's rules. The Kurdistan Region applies its own rules on foreign workers.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. The application | A written application to the Ministry's Department of Labour and Vocational Training, or a branch in the governorates, with the person's qualifications and certified certificates of experience or graduation |
| 2. The check for an Iraqi national | The Department confirms that no job seeker on its database has the qualifications, or the employment offices say so within 15 days of the request being registered |
| 3. The clearances | The social security department and the Ministry of Interior's residence directorate confirm that neither the employer nor the person has an outstanding violation. A request for three or more foreign workers brings a committee's visit to the project |
| 4. The medical examination | A report from an official medical authority that the person is free of infectious and communicable diseases, and fit for the work |
| 5. The entry visa | Approved by the authorities before travel, on a passport valid for at least six months |
| 6. The work permit | Completed at the Department within 30 days of the person's arrival. It runs for a year, and its renewal is asked for in its last month |
| 7. The residence card | Issued by the residence officer before the entry visa runs out, for up to a year. Its renewal can be asked for 30 days before it ends |
The employer tells the residence officer within 48 hours of taking on a foreign national. Whoever brings someone in to work also lodges a financial guarantee or a return ticket.
Through Global Kinect EOR, the work permit and the visa are arranged where the role needs them.
Move someone who is already in Iraq
Someone already living in Iraq can be taken on without leaving, provided their entry and residence are lawful. The application to the Department of Labour and Vocational Training carries their certified qualifications.
A foreign worker may change employer only with the approvals the rules require. Between two private employers, that means both employers' agreement, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs' approval, and a valid residence.
Losing a job does not, by itself, make a foreign worker's stay unlawful. Nor does it, by itself, cancel their residence or work permit.
Check the role is open to a non-Iraqi national
Iraqi workers come first. A work permit is granted only where no Iraqi job seeker on the Ministry's database has the qualifications for the role.
Foreign workers may make up no more than 50% of the workers on a project.
The permit is for one profession. The person pledges not to change it, and the permit is cancelled if they work in another.
In a project of a technical and specialised nature, the foreign worker pledges in writing to train one or more Iraqi workers in what they do.
Set the contract up right
Arabic is the language of every employment contract, record and document. A document in another language cannot be relied on against the employee, even one they have signed.
A foreign worker's contract is made in Arabic, and in English or the worker's own language.
A written contract is made in three copies: one for each side, and one deposited with the Ministry's employment department. It sets out the work, the wage and allowances, the hours, and when and where pay is made.
A fixed-term contract covers a specific job or service, for up to a year. Renewed more than once, it becomes open-ended. A fixed-term employee has the same rights as a permanent one.
A trial period of up to three months is allowed where the employee holds no professional certificate for the work, once with each employer. During it, the employer can end the contract if the employee proves unsuited to the work, on at least seven days' notice.
Know the employee test before you engage a contractor
Iraq's Labour Law treats as a worker anyone who works for a wage of any kind under an employer's direction, supervision and management.
The contract that makes someone a worker can be written or oral, express or implied. So an employment relationship can exist without any written contract.
No foreign national may be engaged in any capacity before a work permit is issued.
A role that needs a work permit goes through employer of record.
Know the leave your people are entitled to
| Leave | What the law gives |
|---|---|
| Annual leave | 21 days a year on full pay, after a year's service. Two more after the first five years with the same employer, two more after the next five, and three more for each five years after that |
| Annual leave in dangerous, arduous or harmful work | 30 days a year on full pay |
| Official holidays | On full pay. A holiday during annual leave does not count against it |
| Sick leave | 30 days a year on full pay, paid by the employer, building up to 180 days. Beyond that, social security takes over for an insured employee |
| Maternity leave | 14 weeks on full pay, up to eight of them before the expected birth and at least six after it. The medical authority can extend it to nine months for a difficult birth, more than one child or complications |
| Childcare | Up to a year unpaid, with the employer's consent, while the child is under a year old |
| Nursing | One hour a day at most, in two breaks, counted as working time |
| Marriage | Five days on full pay, and one day for a son's or daughter's wedding |
| Bereavement | Five days on full pay for a spouse, parent, child, sibling or a spouse's parent |
| A widow's waiting period | 130 days on full pay, for an insured employee whose husband dies |
| Hajj | Unpaid, once in the employee's service |
| Public duties | Full pay for official duties, voting, or appearing in court as a witness or expert |
End employment on the law's terms
An employer can end a contract only on the grounds the Labour Law lists. It gives at least 30 days' notice in writing, or pay in place of it. An employee who resigns also gives at least 30 days' notice.
End of service is two weeks' wage for each year of service. It is not paid where the contract ends for a prison sentence, conduct in breach of the employee's duties under the contract, a false identity or forged documents, or a serious error that a final court ruling finds caused heavy loss.
An employee can challenge a dismissal before the end of service committee or the labour court. Where the dismissal rests on none of the law's grounds, the committee or court orders reinstatement with back pay. Where reinstatement is not possible, compensation is two times the end of service pay.
The final settlement is due from the day after the contract ends, or within seven days of leaving when the employee resigned. A foreign worker brought to Iraq is given a ticket home, unless they stopped work early without a lawful reason.
See what has changed, and what is reviewed next
| When | What changes |
|---|---|
| November 2023 | The Social Security Law of 2023 is in force, and the employer pays the state's 8% share for a foreign employee |
| 27 May 2024 | The Official Holidays Law sets the year's official holidays |
| 30 March 2026 | New instructions for foreign workers replace those of 1987: the check for an Iraqi job seeker, foreign workers at most 50% of a project's staff, and a work permit for a year, renewed each year |
| Every two years | The minimum wage is reviewed against the cost of living, as the Labour Law sets |
Common questions.
How long does a work permit last in Iraq?
Can someone work for us in Iraq as a contractor?
Can a foreign worker already in Iraq change employer?
Hiring where you have no entity? Name the country and the role.
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