Yes, if your employer will help. Give him all of your certificates and documents after authenticating them with various authorities, including the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Your employer should then petition the Passport Department to make the change.
Signing a two-year contract puts on both you and your employer the obligation to continue together for the whole period. Before the end of that period of work you and your employer may be obligated to provide some form of compensation for early termination. There are three things you should know about this situation:
• Your employer cannot stop you from resigning and returning to your country, however your end-of-service benefit (ESB) can be reduced.
• Your employer is not compelled to release you locally at your request. You can offer incentives to persuade him, such as pointing out to your employer that a local release frees him of paying for your final-exit plane ticket. You can also offer all or a portion of your ESB as added incentive.
• If your employer does not agree to a local release (by providing a no-objection certificate), then should you resign you must leave the country for one year from the time of termination. After that, you are free to return to work for somebody else.
The labor law states that this first year is part of your service with the company. All five-plus years constitute your period of service with the employer. In the absence of any signed contract, your period of employment runs up to the expiration date of your iqama. Under the law your employer is obligated to compensate you for the entire time you have worked there. (However, keep in mind that penalties can be imposed if you resign before the expiration of your work permit.) Also, unless you signed something giving up your right to the return ticket, your employer is obligated by law to cover that expense.
In this case, try to convince them to transfer your work to another employer, even you relinquish some of your entitlements. This would save them the return ticket. If they do not agree to transfer your work permit to another employer then they must by law give you the end-of-service certificate (EOSC) that you have completed with them your period of service and that they terminated your service. This EOSC is a must by law if they do not want you to continue. With this EOSC, you may leave the country and return to work with a work visa from another employer.
If your employer insists on either continuing with him or leaving the country, I am afraid you may not join another job, before the passing of one year, from the date you leave your present job. Only after that you may join another job with another employer. But there is always negotiation. Try with your employer to relinquish something of your entitlement, such as part of a vacation or a portion of your end of service benefit. This may do the trick to make your employer cooperate.
— Answers given by Muhammad Jaber Nader
