Oman CV checklist
Practice items are common recruiter expectations, not rules. Official items were checked against the linked sources on 16 October 2026.
| Topic | What to do | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Job title | Use the exact title on your experience letters and check that it is not on the list of jobs reserved for Omanis | Labour Law, Articles 23 and 29; Decision 235/2022 as amended by 501/2024 |
| IT roles | Computer programmer, computer engineer and computer operator joined the reserved list on 1 January 2026; website designer and operations analyst follow on 1 January 2027 | Decision 501/2024 |
| Foreign degree | Get equivalency from MoHERI for each qualification issued outside Oman and write it exactly as on the certificate | Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation |
| Engineers | Add your Oman Society of Engineers classification; permits under the title engineer are not issued or renewed without it | Ministry of Labour, from 1 August 2025 |
| Accounting and finance | Add your professional classification certificate from the sector skills unit | Ministry of Labour, from 1 September 2025 |
| Industrial roles | Factory, production and technician roles on the list need a classification certificate or practice licence | Ministry of Labour, enforced from 1 May 2026 |
| Doctors and allied health | Your CV is one of the required licence documents; state years of experience after specialty precisely | Ministry of Health licensing procedures |
| Notice period | Write the notice in your contract; the legal minimum is 30 days for monthly paid workers | Labour Law, Article 38 |
| Changing employer | No NOC is needed once your contract has expired or been terminated | Royal Oman Police decision, from 1 January 2021 |
| Length and photo | Two pages for most candidates; add a photo only if the advert asks | Common practice |
Recruitment fees: Article 31 of the Labour Law allows only licensed offices to recruit non-Omani workers and forbids charging workers any amount in return for employing them.
Jobs reserved for Omanis and what that means for your CV
Article 23 of the Labour Law issued by Royal Decree 53/2023 obliges employers to employ Omanis, lets the Minister of Labour set Omanisation percentages for each sector, and lets the minister name the jobs in which Omanis replace non-Omanis. Article 27 allows an employer to recruit a non-Omani only with the ministry's authorisation, and only when no Omani has the qualifications or skills needed and the employer meets its Omanisation plan. Article 29 forbids employing a non-Omani in any occupation restricted to Omanis. The list itself is Ministerial Decision 235/2022, which Decision 501/2024 amended in September 2024. According to Times of Oman, the amendment added 32 numbered jobs, among them hotel reception manager, travel agent, quality control manager, marketing specialist, sales representative, forklift operator and sellers of new and used cars and spare parts. Most took effect on 2 September 2024. General systems analyst, information systems network specialist and computer maintenance technician followed on 1 January 2025; computer programmer, computer engineer and computer operator on 1 January 2026; and website designer and operations analyst are due on 1 January 2027. Separately, Decision 452/2024 suspended new permits for 13 occupations, such as general construction worker, cleaner, waiter, painter, chef and barber, for six months from 1 September 2024, while still allowing renewals and transfers requested from inside Oman. The tips below are practice.
- Expatriates: compare your job title with the reserved list before you apply, because the ministry does not issue work permits to non-Omanis for a reserved title.
- If your work spans two roles, lead with the title that matches your duties and your experience letters, not one chosen only to avoid the list.
- Omani candidates: write Omani national in the header, because the law asks employers to prefer you where you have the skills.
Tawteen and the ministry's job seeker services
Two digital channels run by the labour ministry matter for a CV. Tawteen is a national platform the Ministry of Labour launched with the National Employment Programme. At a forum in November 2024, an official told the Oman Observer that it brings job seekers, employers and government together: job seekers update their profiles, companies see the database of available talent, and companies can request foreign workers if no local candidate is available. Companies must register and pay a subscription, and the platform calculates each company's localisation rate. In January 2023 the ministry also launched Ma'ak, an app for job seekers that lets them apply for public and private sector jobs, share their profiles and CVs with employers, and review and accept employment contracts. As practice, Omani job seekers should keep the job titles, dates and qualifications on Tawteen or Ma'ak identical to the CV they send, and expatriates should expect that an employer may have looked for an Omani on the platform before reaching them.
Work permit, visa and resident card: what happens after an offer
For an expatriate, the order of steps explains why your CV and documents must agree. Under Article 28 of the Labour Law, a non-Omani cannot start work before getting a work permit. The conditions include passing the professional standards exams for occupations that need a certificate, entering Oman legally, being medically fit and free of the diseases the Ministry of Health lists, and having a contract with an authorised employer. The Gov.om page for a work visa says the visa is granted under a Ministry of Labour licence, the applicant must be at least 21, and the profession and gender on the visa must match the work permit; the employer attaches copies of your passport and of the medical examination. Since May 2024 the Ministry of Health's Medical Fitness Service has run the visa medical electronically, with a blood test replacing the chest X-ray and the fingerprint and photo uploaded straight to the ministry. After arrival, the resident card application needs your original passport and the Ministry of Labour employee data form stamped after the medical examination. Article 33 says the employment contract must be written in Arabic, or come with an Arabic copy approved by both parties, and Article 36 lists what it must contain, including your qualification and occupation. As practice, make the job title on your CV match the one on the offer, because that title follows you into the work permit, the visa and the contract.
Probation, notice and changing employer
The 2023 Labour Law sets limits a CV should respect. Under Article 37, probation can last up to three months for monthly paid workers and two months for others, a worker can be on probation only once with the same employer, and either side may end the contract during probation with at least seven days' notice. Under Article 38, either party can end an open-ended contract for a legitimate reason with 30 days' written notice for monthly paid workers and 15 days for others, unless the contract sets a longer period. Article 36 adds that the notice an employer gives a worker not to renew a contract must not be less than a month, and Article 39 lets a worker take 10 paid hours a week during the notice period to look for a new job. On changing employers, a Royal Oman Police decision that took effect on 1 January 2021 ended the no-objection certificate (NOC) and the two-year ban that came with it. The Oman Observer reported that a resident visa can move to a new employer holding a recruitment licence once you show that the previous contract has expired or been terminated. The tips below are practice.
- Write your real notice period, such as 30 days or the longer period in your contract.
- Do not write NOC available; it is no longer part of a move, but proof that your contract ended is.
- If you are in Oman now, say when your current contract ends, because that decides when you can move.
Degree equivalency with the Ministry of Higher Education
Oman checks foreign qualifications through the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI). In 2018 an official of its qualification equivalency and recognition department told the Oman Observer that people seeking jobs in both the public and private sectors should have their qualifications equalised by the ministry, in addition to attestation through embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Equivalency confirms that a certificate is academically equal to the matching Omani one. In March 2021 the ministry moved the service online and began issuing an electronic copy instead of the paper one; it had received about 12,321 applications for qualifications obtained abroad in 2020. Rejections happen. In January 2020 the equivalency committee turned down degrees from institutions missing from its list of accredited institutions, degrees earned by distance learning, a master's held by someone with no recognised bachelor's, a degree started without the written approval that students from Oman need before studying abroad, and one forged diploma. Oman has also been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 30 January 2012, according to the HCCH status table, so ask your employer whether an apostille from the issuing country is enough for your other documents. As practice, write each degree exactly as on the certificate, with the institution, country, mode of study and year, so the CV matches the file you send for equivalency.
Engineers: Oman Society of Engineers accreditation
Engineering accreditation is the clearest Oman-specific rule for a CV. The Ministry of Labour told employers in late 2022 that working engineers, and those to be appointed, must apply to the Oman Society of Engineers (OSE) for professional accreditation before work permits are issued or renewed. The Oman Observer described the system then: it verifies engineers' academic qualifications through verification partners, assesses their experience and professionalism, and places them in professional grades. In June 2025 the ministry announced that from 1 August 2025 a work permit under the title engineer would be issued or renewed only with a professional classification certificate from OSE, approved by the sector skills unit for engineering and submitted through the electronic system, with no exceptions after the deadline. The rule covers engineers already in Oman and those still to be hired. As practice, put your OSE grade and certificate number on the CV if you have them, and present your degree, specialisation and years of engineering experience the same way you submit them to OSE.
Accounting, finance and industrial roles: professional classification
The same model has spread to other sectors. From 1 September 2025, the Ministry of Labour requires every worker, Omani or expatriate, in the roles on its accounting, finance and auditing classification list to hold a professional classification certificate from the sector skills unit for that field, which works with the accountants' professional association; work permits are not issued or renewed without it. In January 2026 the ministry extended the system to the industrial sector, with applications from 9 February and enforcement from 1 May 2026. Muscat Daily lists covered roles including factory manager, operations manager, maintenance manager, analytical chemist, electronics, production, welding and chemical technicians, graphic designer, plastic machine operators and furniture carpenters, under two tracks: professional classification and practice licence. As practice, if your role is covered, add the certificate or licence and its number under a Licences heading near the top of the CV, because an employer cannot get your permit without it.
Doctors and allied health: the CV is part of the licence file
For private health establishments, the Ministry of Health's licensing procedure for doctors (version 3, November 2025) lists the candidate's CV first among the documents submitted through the ministry's portal, together with the degree, the required computer-based test result, internship, a letter from the sponsor, primary source verification and a passport copy. A general practitioner needs four years of work experience; a specialist at level 3 needs three years after specialty, a consultant at level 2 six years and a consultant at level 3 twelve years. Applicants abroad receive a letter so they can get a visit visa for the interview, and those who fail may try twice more. If the ministry doubts a document, it can send it for verification or check it with the Oman Medical Specialty Board. For allied health, the ministry's procedure asks for a CV plus a bachelor's degree and two years of recent experience, or a diploma and three years. Pharmacy is being Omanised: under Ministry of Health Circular 167/2025, licences of non-Omani pharmacists and their assistants in pharmacies in commercial complexes and hospital facilities will not be renewed. As practice, count your years after specialty carefully and make every date on the CV match your experience letters.
Layout and honesty: what works with Oman employers
These points are practice unless a law is named. Put your contact details, nationality and whether you are in Oman now at the top, then work experience in reverse order with exact titles and dates, then education, licences and classification certificates, then languages. Two pages suit most candidates; add a photo only if the advert asks. An Arabic version helps for government-facing and many local roles, and because your contract will be in Arabic, spell your name exactly as in your passport in both versions. Honesty carries legal weight: Article 15 of the Labour Law lets the minister set rules for sending a non-Omani worker home if it is proven that he forged an academic certificate or work experience, and Article 32 bans job adverts that classify candidates by creed or colour. Do not pay anyone for a job or a visa, because Article 31 forbids charging workers for their employment. If you already work in Oman and have a problem with wages, fees or your contract, you can complain to the Ministry of Labour through its free labour complaints e-service or its call centre on 80077000.