The government is all set to restrain foreigners working in Nepal without taking work permits from the Department of Labor (DoL). As per the government report, around 50,000 foreign nationals work in the country without a work permit. Only 5,000 foreigners have taken the DoL´s permission to work in Nepal. 

In the first phase, the DoL has targeted the teachers of the three Kathmandu-based schools where dozens of foreigners are working without a work permit, according to the DoL Director General (DG) Krishna Hari Pushkar Lal Karna. 

The foreign teachers working in British School in Jhamsikhel, St. Xavier´s School in Jawlakhel and Rabi Bhawan-based Lincoln School have been directed to apply for a work permit. “Those working here without work permit have now just a week left to correct their mistake and apply for the permit at DoL or face government action,” said Karna. The British School has stated that the foreign teachers working for it have recently applied for a work permit. 

As per the existing laws, normally, all foreigners, except red passport holders, must obtain a work permit from the Labor Department if they wish to work here, regardless of any institutions, occupations, periods and nationalities.

The department had been studying dozens of foreigners working illegally in various schools, consultancies and language institutes and other non-government sectors without having a work permit from the government, said the DoL DG Karna.

According to the government authority, the foreign nationals must apply for the work permit and pay Rs 10,000 every six months, but the people working here have been sidestepping the law to escape the tax. 

“Such people pretend that they were unaware about the law, which cannot be an excuse as most of the countries are already implementing similar laws,” he added. The government can slap three kinds of legal actions on foreigners such as economic punishment, both the jail term and a fine and deportation. 

Though the DoL had urged the partner ministries such as the Ministry of Home and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cooperate on identifying that non-nepalis, both the ministries remained reluctant for three years, the officials claim. “It has been revealed among the cross-cutting ministries that the MoFA was issuing official visas to the non-diplomats bypassing the law which worsened the situation,” claimed a DoL official.

The office has also issued a public notice asking people to inform the Labor Department or the nearest police unit if they know any foreigner working in Nepal. Though the law to register work permits was endorsed in 2010, the lack of cooperation from the other ministries had delayed the process. 

Published on: 22 September 2013 | Republica