The government has increased the amount charged for verification of workers’ demand letter, submitted by a foreign employer, for hiring Nepali workers.

 

With the new rates, foreign employers hiring Nepalis will be paying as per the number of workers they plan to hire unlike in the previous system where they were charged depending on the number of documents. A Cabinet meeting on June 29 endorsed the new verification rate, proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in line with the Foreign Employment Related Demand Letter Enquiry Directive-2018.

 

The directive has made it mandatory for recruiting agencies and foreign companies, seeking to hire Nepali migrant workers, to get their job demand letters approved by the Nepali mission in the destination countries. As per the directive, MoFA was mandated to set the verification amount which would be paid by employers to the Nepali mission.

 

According to the new rate, countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would be paying nearly $250 as verification charge for the demand letter of up to 25 workers. The amount would reach up to nearly $340 for more than 100 workers.

 

In a statement on Thursday, the Nepali Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, said it would be charging 920 dirham for up to 25 workers; 1,100 dirham for workers numbering between 26 and 100; and 1,280 dirham for the demand letter of more than 100 workers.

 

Earlier, Nepali missions would charge as per the number of document copies required to approve the demand letters. The set included guarantee letter, power of the attorney letter and the labour contract. The UAE Embassy would charge 150 dirham for each document, totalling to 750 dirham. The Kuwait embassy would charge 75 Kuwaiti dinar and the Bahrain embassy 75 Bahraini dinar for each document.

 

According to Rohan Gurung, president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, the additional financial burden on employers might divert their attention from the Nepali labour market.

 

“Many countries are supplying workers to these countries. If our government needs foreign employment then it should facilitate the recruitment process,” said Gurung, adding that the amount had nearly doubled from the previous rate.

 

Assistant spokesperson for MoFA Ram Babu Dhakal said the new fees for demand letter verification were different for developed countries, those in the GCC as well as Malaysia.