Israel resumes visas for Nepali workers

KATHMANDU, Aug 26 - After a gap of 15 months, the government has resumed granting permission to Nepali job aspirants for employment in Israel.According to Krishna Dawadi, director of the Department of Labor and Employment Promotion (DoLEP), more than a dozen applicants have received permits till Monday to work in ...

Sources at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) said Israel started granting visas to Nepalis after the Nepal government agreed to involve the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in monitoring the process of sending workers by Nepali manpower agencies.

The Israeli Embassy stopped accepting visa applications from May 2007, citing a new policy that made it mandatory for all source countries to set up diplomatic missions or appoint labor attachés in Israel.

Nepal set up a mission and appointed a labor attaché in Tel Aviv last year. It is preparing to sign special agreements with Israel and the IOM on sending workers to Israel.

The MoLTM directed the DoLEP last week to resume granting permits to work in Israel following its positive response on visas.

The Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu had informed the MoLTM in the last week of July about the resumption of visa issuance to Nepali job seekers.

The MoLTM had already sent a list of aspirants whose applications were being processed when the Israeli Embassy stopped issuing visas. According to the MoLTM, 692 workers were at the final stages of their preparations at the time. The visa embargo affected around 2,000 female job aspirants who had already spent sizable sums on trainings for domestic help.

“The process of sending workers to Israel will continue as in the past,” said Dawadi. Around 12,000 Nepali workers are estimated to be employed in Israel. The Foreign Employment Act also requires the government to depute labor attachés in countries where the number of Nepali workers exceeds 5,000 persons.