Visa-processing fee likely to see a 10-fold increase

 

Nepali workers seeking jobs in Malaysia may have to fork out several more thousand rupees to get placements there, as visa and medical check-up fees are likely to be revised upward. 

 

The cost of going to Malaysia for employment will go up by at least Rs 4,700 in the near future, as visa processing fee is likely to go up by Rs 3,200 and health check-up fee is likely to rise by $15 (approximately Rs 1,500). 

 

The Malaysian government is soon outsourcing visa processing work to a company called FOSA. “The company will start charging Rs 3,200 for processing visa documents of every person in the near future,” said President of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies Bal Bahadur Tamang. 

 

The amount that FOSA will be charging from visa applicants is exclusive of the visa fee of Rs 3,900 that the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu collects, Tamang told The Himalayan Times. THT, however, could not confirm this from officials of FOSA.

 

The Malaysian Embassy’s decision to ‘outsource visa processing work’ comes barely one and a half months after it revised its visa fee structure from Rs 700 to Rs 3,900.

 

“Workers leaving for Malaysia were already reeling under pressure due to upward revision of the visa fee. They are likely to be further hit with the latest decision to outsource the visa processing work,” NAFEA President Tamang said.

 

What is likely to further increase workers’ cost of going to Malaysia is the pressure that the Nepal Health Professionals’ Federation is exerting on medical centres to instal a software developed by a Malaysian IT firm called Bestinet.

 

“This software alone costs $8,000 (approximately Rs 8 lakhs),” NAFEA General Secretary Rohan Gurung said. “And once this software is introduced the cost of medical check-up will go up by $15 per person,” Gurung said, adding the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu has given tacit approval for the use of the software. THT, however, could not establish contact with officials of the Malaysian Embassy to confirm this matter.

 

But if what Gurung said turns out to be true, the cost of purchasing the software will also be passed on to workers seeking employment in Malaysia, which will ultimately put them under additional financial burden.

 

To protest these moves, the NAFEA is organising a sit-in at the parking lot of the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu on Monday. “If these decisions are not rolled back, we will take the matter to the International Labour Organisation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” NAFEA President Tamang said. 

 

Currently, more than 800 Nepali workers leave for Malaysia every day. Most of these workers come from rural areas and are cash-strapped. And many of them obtain loans, usually at high costs, to go abroad just to earn around 630 Malaysian ringgit (approximately Rs 18,900) per month.

 

Although the government has instructed manpower companies not to charge more than Rs 80,000 from each worker who seeks job placement in Malaysia, not many firms follow this directive. Yet many workers do not complain about these acts, as they are more bothered about flying abroad.

 

Medical check-up software, outsourcing adding to the fee

• The Malaysian government is mulling over outsourcing visa processing. Once that’s done the fee is likely to be Rs 7,100. It used to cost Rs 700 one and a half months ago when the Malaysian government raised it to Rs 3,900.

 

• In addition, the medical check-up fee may go up by Rs 1,500 after the health centres install a mandatory software developed by a Malaysian IT firm that costs Rs 8 lakhs