VisaForeign workers in The Gambia need approval before changing employers
The Gambia Immigration Department requires expatriate workers to obtain approval before switching employers. A valid residence card alone does not complete the change-of-employment procedure.
Official source date: 2026-11-02
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Secure approval before starting the next job
A foreign employee changing jobs in The Gambia should obtain the Director of Immigration’s prior approval before beginning work for the new employer. The Immigration Department’s current Business Establishment guidance requires an application accompanied by the residence permit, a no-objection letter from the present or previous employer and a guarantee letter from the prospective employer. This is a current procedural explanation, not an announcement of a new November restriction.
The guidance also makes the employer responsible for notifying Immigration when an employee is discharged and providing repatriation arrangements and departure particulars. Someone who intends to remain after discharge should resolve that position with the department rather than assume the old employment arrangement continues. The page does not give a standard transfer-processing period or transfer-specific fee. Ask for confirmation of the required decision and lawful interim arrangements before agreeing an unconditional first working day with the next employer.
Check the permit category and supporting documents
The department distinguishes Residence Permit A, which does not allow gainful employment, from Residence Permit B, intended for people living and working in The Gambia. This matters where a student or retiree receives a job offer: holding a non-working residence category does not itself answer the employment question. The department lists a passport, evidence of status and identity, embassy or high-commission attestation and, for Permit B, a Gambia Revenue Authority payroll-tax receipt. Renewals also require the previous permit.
Published non-refundable Permit B charges are D 3,600 for ECOWAS nationals and D 7,700 for non-ECOWAS nationals. The page says the non-ECOWAS alien-card cost is included, while warning that charges may change. These are residence-permit figures, not a confirmed quotation for changing employer. Obtain the applicable category and total directly from Immigration. Nationality therefore affects the published residence charge, but should not be taken as an unverified exemption from the employment-change approval requirement.
Direct questions to the relevant immigration units
The department’s Directorate of Processing page identifies separate units for expatriate quotas, alien registration, and visas, passes and permits. The quota unit regulates foreign-employment quotas and compliance; the registration unit maintains records of foreign residents; the permit unit handles residence and work permissions. Use that official description to frame a complete enquiry, particularly if the new role also changes the employer’s quota position or the worker’s residence category.
Ask which unit will record the employer change, whether a replacement residence document is needed and how any approaching permit expiry should be handled. An enquiry should identify both employers, the proposed role, the intended start date and the existing permit category and expiry date. This allows the department to address the actual transfer rather than provide only general residence information. Keep the written response and submission acknowledgement with the employment papers. An acknowledgement shows that an application was delivered; it should not be substituted for the prior approval required before the new employment begins.
Keep employment tax distinct from immigration approval
Changing employer also creates a practical payroll handover. The Revenue Authority’s employment-income-tax brochure explains that PAYE covers employment earnings including wages, bonuses, allowances and termination payments. It places responsibility for withholding, monthly returns and remittance on the employer, with payment due by the fifteenth of the following month. This helps a worker identify who should deal with final and initial payroll records when moving between employers.
The brochure’s tax-rate table is expressly dated January 2018 and should not be used as a current personalised tax calculation. Ask the Revenue Authority for the applicable treatment of final pay and any new remuneration. PAYE records can support a clear handover, but they are different from Immigration’s required payroll-tax receipt and the employer-transfer decision. Neither a payslip nor a tax payment proves that permission to begin the new job has been granted.
