Staff Reporter :
Aspirant expatriates will no longer require approval from the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment to work abroad, according to Adviser Asif Nazrul.
The announcement was made during a press briefing on Tuesday, as part of a government initiative to streamline the process of sending workers overseas.
“From now on, only the embassies of the respective foreign countries and the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) will handle the necessary formalities,” Nazrul confirmed during the briefing.
The decision was taken to minimise delays and alleviate the difficulties faced by expatriates when obtaining clearance for overseas employment, he explained.
“We have learnt that there is considerable suffering involved in sending expatriate workers abroad, with the process consuming a lot of time,” said the Adviser.
“Upon investigation, we found that expatriates seeking to work abroad had to acquire approval at three different levels: the relevant embassy, the Ministry, and BMET.”
“But from this point forward, the Ministry will no longer play a role in the approval process,” Nazrul stated.
The new initiative is expected to shorten the approval period by 15 to 30 days, significantly reducing the challenges faced by workers.
“If the previous process took up to three months, we now anticipate that it will take only two to two and a half months for workers to complete the necessary preparations to go abroad,” he added.
In addition to these reforms, Nazrul announced that remitters—Bangladeshi expatriates sending money home—will receive VIP services at airports upon their return to Bangladesh.
“We will provide them with all the amenities available to VIPs at the airport, except access to the VIP lounge,” he said during the briefing, which took place in the meeting room of the Expatriate Ministry.
Nazrul elaborated that remitters will receive assistance at airports similar to the treatment typically afforded to VIPs.
“When a VIP travels, they usually have someone to carry their luggage and assist them throughout the check-in and immigration processes. These services will now be extended to migrant workers,” he explained.
Initially, the government will focus on providing these services to workers travelling to and from the Middle East, with plans to extend the programme to expatriates in Europe at a later stage.
“A worker travelling to and from the Middle East will get VIP treatment,” Nazrul said, adding that they are considering granting remitters access to airport lounges in the future.