Mass migration of foreign laborers to the GCC is a significant phenomenon, both for its scale and effect on Gulf economies. Since its inception, the phenomenon has incurred much scholarship. Traditional analysis focuses on the treatment of foreign workers, their role in enabling the clientelist character of the GCC state and their significance as an obstacle to work-force nationalization. However, there is a significant lack of scholarship examining the effect of foreign labor on class formation among GCC nationals. The goal of this paper is to highlight this lack of scholarship, examine the effects of foreign labor on class formation and present its implications for future class-analysis in the GCC. The paper addresses a number of questions: What is the current extent of class analysis of the GCC? Where does it fall short and how can we fill in these gaps? How does foreign labor affect national identity and economic relations between GCC nationals? What is the role of the state in shaping class? The framework for conducting class analysis in the Middle East, particularly the GCC, is far from settled. However, the GCC countries present an especially challenging case due to their heavy reliance on foreign labor. The transfer of production from GCC nationals to foreign labor prevents capital accumulation in a traditional sense, namely through a relation to production, but instead capital accumulation to a relation with the state. As a result, individuals, tribes and ethnic groups engage in class formation through bilateral negotiation with the state. This prompts a rethinking of class analysis in the GCC. Bahrain, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were each chosen for specific characteristics with sufficient differences and similarities to extrapolate GCC-wide consequences. Bahrain provides a case with an exaggerated sectarian dimension, the UAE a history of migration flow from India, and Saudi Arabia a historical freedom from British administration. The paper traces the history of labor-migration to the GCC starting with the Trucial period, establishing a background of the socio-economic location of migrants, and evaluating current literature and recasting their arguments. It draws upon historical literature which describes British management of migration during the Trucial period, published interviews of nationals and migrants, as well as primary source data from current economic indicators. It provides a basis for future class analysis in the GCC and contributes to existing scholarship.