Government asks foreign workers to get work permit or face music

The government today asked the foreigners working in the country to get work permit or face the music.

According to the 'Directives on work permit management of foreign workers,' prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the foreigners working in Nepal should get work permit within one month of entry to Nepal to help the government check and monitor illegal flow of the foreigners in formal and informal sectors.

However, for the foreign workers, who are currently working, if they present themselves to the department within three months, they will be exempted one's dues like income tax, immigration fee, and visa charge.

However, after three months, the department will take action and penalise against the foreign workers, who have been working in Nepal without work permit, according to the director general of the department Krishna Hari Puskar.

The department will start inspection of all the companies that have hired foreign workers. "Any foreigners, who are found to be violating the law of the land will be fined in cash or imprisoned or both while they might also be deported too," he added.

Most of the foreign workers have entered into Nepal with a tourist visa but staying back and working illegally. "The illegal trend has caused a loss of $40 million loss in annual taxes," according to the back of the envelop calculation of the department.

The country has been not only losing the taxes but also employment to the illegal foreigners, while the Nepali youths have been forced to leave country in search of employment in Gulf and Malaysia.

Currently, some 50,000 foreign workers have been working in Nepal illegally in sectors like NGOs, diplomatic missions, hydropower, construction, banking, telecom, airlines, hospitality and educational institutions.

But only 9,920 foreigners have received work permit from the department, of whom more than 80 per cent are Chinese nationals. Most of the foreigners have been twisting the law of the land due to weak Nepali government and bullying foreign embassies in Kathmandu.

The government is keeping the employers under scanner as they have been encouraging foreign workers to stay illegally in Nepal.