Undocumented workers on foreign employment to be legalised

KATHMANDU, June 21: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has started an initiative to legalise workers on foreign employment without legal documents.

Nepal's laws had the provision to grant work permits to foreign employees only for 2 years. So the government has decided to give employees work permits for the same period as their working VISAs.

"Our law used to grant work permits for 2 years. Some people have taken a working VISA of more than 2 years for foreign employment. But they have become undocumented because of us", said the Ministry's Joint Secretary Rajib Pokharel, "From now on, we have decided to grant work permits for the same period as the working VISA."

More than 100,000 workers are estimated to be living in foreign countries illegally. Around 50,000 of them might be domestic workers according to the Foreign Employment Professionals Association's Chairman Rajendra Bhandari.