wages for the period he/she has working without a valid visa. Many employers also force the worker to pay the visa/ID card (issuance as well as renewal) charges. This amount is sometimes deducted from the salary in instalments. In many cases the visa/ID card of the employee is not renewed if he is not ready to bear the expenses or the sponsor has fines due to be paid to the authorities. Hence, the employee whose visa has expired and has not been paid for months not only loses this wage but also becomes an undocumented migrant worker. 12. Change of visa to another company under the same employer: There have been instances where the employers have changed the visa of the worker from one company to another under his ownership. The workers are under the mistaken impression that there is no problem as the owner is the same. As there is a change in the commercial registration (CR) number of the company, the worker will not be able to claim the statutory dues from the earlier company after one year from the date of transfer to the new CR. 13. No Objection Certificate for change of job/sponsor: It is mandatory in Oman to obtain a no objection certificate from the employer if one wishes to switch jobs. Demanding huge amounts and/or not paying the back wages in return for issuance of the NOC is a very common practice in Oman. (A welcome move is that the Oman government has recently announced that they will lift this rule from the beginning of 2021).16 14. False charges against workers: There have been cases where the employers charge the workers for stealing/theft of any goods or money to avoid the workers' payment. Hence, the workers are forced to leave the company without any benefits and not have the means to continue living in the destination country. 15. Working extra hours: Although the law in some CODs states that it is permissible to make an employee work for more than 8 hours in certain jobs like security guards, domestic workers etc., employer accountability to pay overtime wages is seldom considered. Some employers interpret this provision as permission to make them work without overtime wages. CSOs also report employers and some governments increasing the working hours of such categories of workers during the pandemic even though workers are forced to work full hours for minimum wages 17 16. Forced to pay their own plane tickets: Additional category on wage theft scenarios based on Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA)’s cases: Migrant workers who were forced or asked to pay for their plane tickets by their employer and pay what their 16 Oman partner Nepal member 1717 9