Shram Swikriti: Step-by-Step Labour Approval Guide for Nepal

Shram swikriti (labour approval, also called a labour permit) is the official authorisation issued by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), which sits under the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS), permitting a Nepali citizen to leave the country for paid work abroad. It is required under the Foreign Employment Act, 2064 (2007) and the Foreign Employment Rules, 2064 (2008). Departing for a foreign job without this approval is illegal migration, leaves you outside the protection of Nepali law, and disqualifies you from Welfare Fund compensation if something goes wrong.

The permit exists to create a documented, traceable trail for every worker: which agency recruited you, which employer hired you, what your contract says, that you were medically fit, insured, and oriented before departure. This is what separates the safe, legal route from the informal channels that fuel trafficking and debt bondage. First-time migrants targeting the Gulf and Malaysia are the most common victims of scams, precisely because they do not know that these free protections are their right.

Since roughly 2022 the entire process has moved online to the Foreign Employment Information Management System (FEIMS) at feims.dofe.gov.np. Every stage, from the employer's job demand to the final electronic labour permit sticker, is recorded biometrically and digitally so that steps cannot be skipped or faked. In practice this means your fingerprints and photo are tied to the permit, and a genuine approval can be verified online.

There are two lawful ways to obtain shram swikriti. The most common is the institutional route, where a DoFE-licensed recruitment agency (a 'manpower' company) recruits you against a foreign employer's demand and processes the permit on your behalf. The second is the individual (personal) route, used when you already hold a genuine visa and a verified employment contract, for example arranged through a relative or directly by the employer, and you apply for the permit yourself without an agency.

A third common category is the re-entry permit, for workers who already worked abroad legally, returned to Nepal on leave, and are going back to the same job. Before travelling you must verify that any agency you deal with actually holds a valid DoFE licence; you can check licensed agencies through DoFE and the FEIMS portal. Dealing with an unlicensed broker (dalal) is the single biggest risk factor for fraud.

Regardless of route, the core protections are the same: a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation, life insurance, and the Welfare Fund contribution. The remainder of this guide follows the institutional route, which is what most first-time migrants use, and flags who is supposed to pay for each item.

The legal chain begins abroad, not in Nepal. A foreign employer wanting Nepali workers issues a demand letter (job demand) stating the number of workers, job title, salary, and benefits, and appoints a Nepali recruitment agency. Crucially, this demand and the accompanying documents must be attested by the Nepali diplomatic mission (embassy) in the destination country before recruitment can proceed. This attestation is what confirms the job is real and the terms are lawful.

The employer's demand and papers are entered into FEIMS, and DoFE grants the agency permission to advertise and recruit for that specific demand. As a worker, you should insist on seeing the approved demand and a written employment contract that matches what you were promised verbally, covering salary, working hours, accommodation, food, and contract duration. Never accept a job where the salary or terms differ from the attested documents.

The contract must ultimately be verified through the Nepali mission and reflected in FEIMS. Verbal promises by a broker have no legal standing; the attested demand and verified contract are the only documents that protect you and that DoFE will act on in a dispute.

Once selected, you undergo a medical examination at a Government-of-Nepal-authorised medical centre to confirm you are fit for the job (and, for many Gulf destinations, to meet the receiving country's GCC health requirements). The medical fee is typically a modest few thousand rupees and is paid by the worker; keep the certificate, which feeds into your permit file.

Pre-departure orientation training (PDOT) is mandatory, especially for first-time migrants and anyone changing destination country or job type. Delivered over two days by orientation centres registered with DoFE against a curriculum set by the Foreign Employment Board, it covers the destination country's culture and laws, your contract rights, workplace safety, financial literacy, and how to seek help if you are exploited. On completion you receive an orientation certificate that is required before the permit is issued.

Life insurance is compulsory under the Act. Every departing worker must be covered by a foreign employment term life policy with a minimum sum assured of Rs 500,000 (five lakh) for death, plus disability cover and body-transportation costs of up to about Rs 100,000. The premium is age-banded, commonly around Rs 3,500 to Rs 5,500 depending on the worker's age. Note that MoLESS has, as of 2025, floated amending the Act to change or remove the compulsory term-life provision, so confirm the current rule at the time you apply.

Before the permit is issued you must contribute to the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund, established under Section 33 of the Foreign Employment Act, 2064. The contribution is Rs 1,500 per worker, paid through the FEIMS payment system. This fund is not a tax you lose: it finances rescue and repatriation of workers in distress, medical support, compensation for death or permanent disability beyond insurance, scholarships for children of deceased workers, and reintegration help for returnees. A worker who left without a permit cannot claim from this fund.

With medical, orientation, insurance and Welfare Fund all recorded in FEIMS, DoFE issues the shram swikriti, increasingly as an electronic sticker/permit tied to your biometrics (fingerprints and photo). Because the whole file is digital and biometric, DoFE reports that many applications are now approved within roughly 24 to 72 hours, and 'same-day' processing is promoted for straightforward cases. The permit is typically valid for the contract period (commonly up to two years).

As of 2026 a separate Social Security Fund (SSF) contribution has also become part of the process for departing workers; figures around Rs 2,595 have been reported by agencies. Because SSF rules and amounts are new and evolving, treat that specific figure as indicative and confirm the current requirement on FEIMS or with DoFE before you pay.

The law is designed so that the worker pays only a small set of genuine costs, while the employer bears recruitment costs. Under Nepal's 'free visa, free ticket' policy, introduced in 2015, employers recruiting for seven destinations, Malaysia and the six Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman, are supposed to pay for the worker's visa and air ticket. For those destinations the recruitment agency's service charge to the worker is capped (commonly cited at around Rs 10,000), and only applies where the employer has not already paid a service fee to the agency.

In principle, then, the worker should pay only for the medical test, orientation, insurance premium, Welfare Fund (and now SSF) contribution, and passport, roughly on the order of US$75 in the original policy design. The employer should pay the visa cost, the return air ticket, and the agency's service/recruitment fee. Any demand that you pay lakhs of rupees for a Gulf or Malaysia job is a red flag that the law is being broken.

In reality, enforcement has been weak: multiple studies and Nepal's own Auditor General have found that many workers still pay far more than the legal ceiling, sometimes US$1,500-2,200, through hidden charges. Knowing the legal position is your best defence. Insist on official receipts for every payment, keep them, and report over-charging or unlicensed brokers to DoFE, whose toll-free helpline is 1140.

Only after the shram swikriti is issued should you travel. At the airport, immigration checks that your labour permit is valid and recorded in the system; a departure without it is not legal foreign employment even if you hold a visa. Carry copies of your contract, permit, insurance policy, and orientation certificate, and leave a set with your family in Nepal along with the agency's and employer's contact details.

Never travel to a Gulf or Malaysia job on a visit or tourist visa on the promise that the work permit will be 'arranged later' abroad, a classic trafficking tactic that strips you of legal protection and Welfare Fund eligibility. If a broker tells you to skip orientation, skip the permit, or fly first and process paperwork later, walk away. Those shortcuts are exactly what the shram swikriti system exists to prevent.

Once abroad, keep your documents safe, do not surrender your passport permanently to the employer, and know that the Nepali embassy and the Welfare Fund are your points of contact in a crisis. Because your permit is biometric and logged in FEIMS, a legally documented worker can be traced, assisted, rescued and, if the worst happens, compensated, which is the whole point of doing it the lawful way.