South Korea has asked Employment Permit System (EPS) job aspirants to submit Machine Readable Passport (MRP) for new hiring. Applicants must submit MRP while reregistering in the job roster, the Human Resource Department of South Korea has said in a letter sent to the Department of Foreign Employment.

Handwritten passports will be phased out worldwide in the next two years, so EPS workers must submit MRP while reapplying, the letter reads. The International Civil Aviation Organisation has set November 24, 2014, as the deadline for handwritten passports.

The job tenure of an EPS worker is four years and 10 months, therefore, they need MRP, said director at the Department of Foreign Employment Surya Prasad Bhandari. “If they do not have MRP, they will face problems at the job place and also while returning,” he said.

EPS Nepal, under the department, has asked all EPS job aspirants to submit MRP during the registration process. According to the plan, about 7,500 EPS job aspirants must submit MRP to be eligible for South Korean jobs.

South Korea is the most lucrative job destination for Nepalis. An EPS job holder earns around $1,000 (Rs 87,000) per month while working in the manufacturing, agriculture or fishery sectors. The earning is five times more than in Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and others — and Malaysia.

The handsome salary for unskilled workers is the attraction in South Korea. Therefore, the EPS process has been attracting thousands of Nepalis since it began in 2008. About 32,000 Nepalis had appeared for the first Korean language test held in August 2008, followed by 41,000 in 2010, and 51,000 in 2011.

About 15,000 Nepalis are believed to be working in South Korea and 13,000 of them are EPS workers. More than 7,000 Nepalis, who passed the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) exam, are waiting for their turn to join EPS jobs. About 15,298 Nepalis had passed TOPIK in August 2011.

Published on: 31 December 2012 | The Himalayan Times