The department said that it had been receiving an increased number of inquiries about the work permit from employers. In the last one week, the department issued permits to 10 foreigners working in the Upper Tamakoshi and Kulekhani hydropower projects
.
“The number of inquiries has increased, but the issuance of permits has been less than what we had anticipated,” said Man Bahadur BK, director general of the department. He added that the trend of organisations approaching the department for recommendations to issue work permits had also increased.
Star hotels, airlines, hydropower projects, restaurants and banks employing foreigners have inquired about the work permit. The department said work permits are being processed for foreign workers employed in Ncell, MobiCom Tele Networks, ZTE, Huawei Technologies, Melamchi drinking water project, Soaltee Hotel, a number of banks and the Tamakoshi and Chamelia hydropower projects.
However, INGOs have made no moves to acquire work permits for their workers nor have they made any inquiries at the department.
The department charges Rs 10,000 per employee for a work permit. The employing organisations themselves have to approach the department along with a recommendation letter, passport, visa, biodata, certificate of the company, tax certificate and photos to get a work permit for their foreign workers.
The government on June 14 had issued a 15-days notice to legalise over 50,000 foreigners working illegally in Nepal. The department had asked all the organisations providing jobs to foreign nationals to acquire work permits or face legal action.
Following expiration of the 15-day notice, the department plans to circulate a form to all the organisations employing foreign workers to collect precise data on how many foreigners are working in Nepal and how many of them have not acquired work permits. So far, an estimated 7,000 work permits have been issued by the department.
The Labour Act 1992 has made it mandatory for foreign nationals coming to Nepal to work to get work permits. However, it has not been implemented effectively, mainly due to the government’s negligence and lack of coordination between ministries and the offices under them. Even the Department of Immigration has not provided details of foreigners entering Nepal on non-tourist visas to the Labour Department.
“This has become a must to check the trend of working illegally,” said a high level official at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management. The official added that the government would take strict action as per immigration laws, labour laws or the Company Act.
The ministry has also formed a central monitoring committee to monitor illegal foreign workers. The committee will also hold extensive meetings with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and the Office of the Company Registrar to discuss the legal actions to be taken.
BK, who is also coordinator of the committee, said that they would discuss what kind of action could be taken against organisations employing foreigners without a work permit and against the workers. “Employers should be held more responsible for offering jobs to foreigners without a permit,” he added.
Though the government has no exact data on how many foreigners are working in Nepal without valid work permits, the Labour Ministry estimates that there are more than 50,000 alien workers. Officials at the ministry said that many foreigners were working illegally in INGOs, hotels, restaurants, hydropower companies and educational institutions.
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