Nepali workers heading for South Korea under Employment Permit System (EPS) will now be granted a work permit for five years, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the two governments to extend the term of contract.

Earlier, the workers had to renew their contract in every three years despite having contracts for four years and 10 months. “Earlier, the workers were expected to extend a contract of one year and 10 months after initial three-year contract. Now on, we will give a five-year contract at once,” said Purna Chandra Bhattarai, director general at Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE).

“Though the work duration is four years and 10 months, we have added two months considering the time it would take for processing and travelling.” The new system, coming into force from Wednesday, will provide workers with work permit, insurance, welfare fund and other documents for five years. The extension of the contract comes as an enforcement of an MoU signed on June 29 this year between Nepal government and EPS Korea to extend the term of contract.

The officials at the EPS Section of DoFE said many people had been facing difficulty as they had to return back just to get their contract extended. “Besides saving the travel cost, they will benefit from compensations in case of unforeseen accidents like death and accidents,” said an official.

The labour agreement between the governments of Korea Republic and Nepal was reached through postal service. It was signed by erstwhile Labour Minister Kumar Belbase and his Korean counterpart Lee Chan-woo.According to official at the department’s EPS-section, a group of workers who are leaving to Korea on Nov 12 will go there with a five-month contract.

About 13,000 Nepalis have been working in manufacturing and agriculture sectors in South Korea under the EPS. The EPS workers earn around $1,000 (Rs 88,000) a month, while the cost for job searching comes to about $970 (Rs 85,360), making it the most lucrative and popular destination among Nepali migrant workers since the process began in August 2008.