10,000 foreign workers in Nepal, highest from China

Nepal largely depends on technical human resources from foreign countries for the implementation of big projects.

According to official data, skilled human resources required for various large projects here are hired from other countries.

The Department of Labour and Occupational Safety said workforce from around 100 countries in the world are currently engaged in various projects in Nepal and the Chinese make up the highest portion.

Likewise, workers from the UK, the United States of America, South Korea, India and Japan are in a noticeable size. Since 2017, over 7,500 Chinese have taken a labour permit, including 2594 renewals, for Nepal.

Similarly, 488 people from the United Kingdom), 332 from the US, 240 from South Korea, 230 from India, 190 from Japan, 116 from Australia, 113 from Sri Lanka, 98 from Germany, 79 from France and 56 from Bangladesh are working in Nepal.

According to Department director general Krishna Prasad Gnawali, there are more Chinese-funded projects in Nepal thus the high number of Chinese workers in the country than those from other countries.

Foreign workers are found deputed in technical posts like project engineering, tunnel and hydro engineering, maintenance engineering and mechanical engineering, according to the Department.

There is a provision that work permits should be obtained from the Department while hiring foreign citizens by employers. The Department has been issuing work permits to foreign workers as per the Directives related to Work Permit Management of Foreign Citizens-2075.

Director General of the Department, Gnawali, said the work permit to foreign workers is being issued based on recommendation of the respective Ministry and consent of the Home Ministry while the Department of Immigration provides visa to workers only after the Department provides work permits.

The Department provides one-year work permits for foreign workers. Work-permit is issued for skilled technicians for maximum five years at different intervals while maximum three years for other foreign nationals at different intervals.

A foreign worker has to pay Rs 15,000 for six months and Rs 20,000 for more than six months, mentioned the Directives.