The government has commenced online verification of approval of Demand Letters for foreign employment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha inaugurated the digital service during a programme at the Consular Service Department on Thursday.

In the first phase, the service has been made available at the Nepali Embassy in the United Arab Emirates and it will soon be implemented for other countries as well, Shrestha said.

Although the service has been available since 2021 at the Riyadh-based embassy, it was not made available to the foreign employment department due to which service seekers faced the hassle of getting the demand letters physically verified which has been solved, the minister added.

Service seekers had long been complaining about the frustrating application process, difficulty in authentication of documents, additional costs and lack of transparency.

With the initiation of the service, employer companies will now have to apply online to the respective Nepali embassies when demanding Nepali workers. The revenue will also be paid only after the applications are approved.

“The documents will then be sent to the foreign employment department online, and the labour permits will be handed once the applications get approval,” Shrestha said.

The online service will provide easy access to the applications, allow the concerned parties to track their progress, be informed about all required documents, and discourage the trend of middlemen, among others.

During the programme, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Dol Prasad Aryal, expressed his belief that the online verification of the demand letters would further help protect the workers’ rights and regulate employer companies.