KATHMANDU, May 8: The Foreign Employment Office under the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security has drastically reduced the time taken to process labor approvals, now completing the task in just 2 minutes and 44 seconds upon receiving the necessary documents.

Under the direction of Labor Minister Dol Prasad Aryal, individuals seeking foreign employment opportunities in various countries have been receiving expedited work permits. Minister Aryal says that the task of giving labor approval has been expedited because of the dedication of the employees.

Kalpana Maskey, the director of the office, said that if all the required documents are provided, the foreign employment office issues a work permit within two minutes.

"The swift issuance of labor approvals continues," she said. "The extended working hours from 7 AM to 9 PM have significantly eased the process. Previously, many applications remained pending, but that's no longer the case," she added.

Stating that the approval process is streamlined with proper documentation, Director Maskey said that many applicants now apply online from the comfort of their homes. She said, "The office is not overwhelmed with visitors anymore; the workflow is more manageable," she added.

The Foreign Employment Office has introduced the Foreign Employment Information Management System (FEIMS) to make foreign employment-related operations technology-friendly. Due to problems in the system, workers had to wait for hours to get a work permit. However, after solving the problem in the system, applicants receive work permits within minutes.

"We provide nearly 1500 tokens for renewal of labor permits and 300 tokens for new labor permits," she said, "Nearly all applicants have successfully obtained labor permits." Only if all the documents are not presented, the work permit is not issued. The office staff say that each office employee is now responsible for issuing work permits to an average of 84 applicants per day.

According to her, in the past the process of issuing labor permits to workers going abroad for employment would be verified by one employee and approved by another employee. Initially, this process involved verification by one employee and approval by another, with only 5-7 employees managing the issuance. However, Director Maskey confirmed that all office staff are now involved in permit issuance.

Now, workers can obtain labor approval from labor and employment offices in Pokhara, Butwal, Janakpur, and Surkhet, and Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu, under the Department of Foreign Employment as well as the embassies of the destination country.

There is a provision to obtain labor permits for foreign employment from all seven provinces. The staff of the office informed Republica that more than 10,000 work permits are issued every week from Tahachal, Kathmandu, alone.

"We adjust token distribution daily as needed," Maskey said. "There's no longer any significant backlog. However, delays may occur if all required documents are not submitted," she added.

During a recent software issue, employees reported that work permits couldn't be processed for up to 15 days, causing distress among workers. Some individuals who urgently visited the office lamented missed flights due to delayed permits. However, it's now confirmed that permits can be issued within minutes, alleviating concerns previously experienced by office staff.

Minister Aryal assured that despite technical challenges like power outages or internet issues, work permits will be processed within an hour.

Previously, the former labor minister Sharat Singh Bhandari proposed allocating Rs 100 million from the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund to enhance the FEIMS system. However, this initiative was halted following widespread protests, alleging potential misuse of the fund contrary to regulations.

According to Foreign Employment Office data, 66,299 individuals obtained work permits for foreign employment between April 5 and May 5 through institutional, individual and G2G methods.

Applicants must submit their passport, visa, and employment contract for labor approval, alongside fulfilling insurance and welfare fund requirements. The Department of Foreign Employment introduced FEIMS to streamline the permit issuance process.

Currently, an average of 1,600 work permits are issued daily.

 
• Foreign_Employment_Office
 
• Ministry_of_Labor
 
• Employment_and_Social_Security
 
• labor_approvals_process