Work permit Nepal, documentation requirements for employers

The labour permit a Nepali worker carries to Tribhuvan International Airport is the document that decides whether the file mobilises or stalls at the gate. It is issued by the Department of Foreign Employment (DOFE) at Maharajgunj under Article 235 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064, and it sits on top of a stack of supporting documents that DOFE assembles before the permit is printed. This guide is the employer-side view of what goes into that stack, why each piece is required, and where the file most often comes back for correction.

For the upstream DOFE Job Order process the permit sits inside, see DOFE permit, complete employer guide. For the full corridor view including destination-side permits, see How to hire Nepali workers for Croatia, complete 2026 guide.

What the labour permit is and what it confirms at the gate

The DOFE labour permit is a per-worker authorisation issued against a verified Job Order. It bears the worker's name, passport number, destination country, employer name, contract length, recruiting agency name and DOFE licence number, and the unique permit number DOFE issues into the IRIS-aligned electronic register. The permit is what Tribhuvan International Airport immigration checks against the passport, the visa-D sticker, and the airline manifest at departure. Mismatches result in offload at the gate, the worker does not board, the file returns to DOFE for re-issuance, and the corridor loses 7-14 days.

What the permit confirms to airport immigration is a closed loop: the worker is leaving Nepal under a DOFE-attested Job Order, with employer-paid documentation and one-way ticket under the Free Visa Free Ticket reform of May 2024 where the destination is in scope, with a Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) completed at a SaMi/HELVETAS-aligned centre, with the foreign employment insurance policy active, and with the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund contribution paid. Each of those is a separate document on file; the permit is the cover sheet that ties them.

The seven supporting documents DOFE assembles before permit issuance

DOFE will not print the labour permit until seven pieces are on file for the named worker. The Werklist Kathmandu team assembles them in this order, each verifiable against an external receipt:

1. Worker passport. Valid for at least 18 months past the contract end-date, most destinations enforce this independently at visa-D stamping. Passport copies are filed against the Job Order at DOFE; the original travels with the worker.

2. Signed bilingual employment contract. The same contract DOFE verified at Job Order stage, signed by the worker in front of a Werklist representative. Contract substitution at destination is a DOFE blacklist event for the agency under Article 235 of the Foreign Employment Act 2064; the on-file contract is the reference DOFE matches against if a complaint surfaces.

3. Destination-country visa. For Croatia, the visa-D long-stay sticker stamped at the Croatian Embassy New Delhi (Nepal's nearest Croatian consular representation). The visa number is recorded on the permit; mismatch at airport immigration is an offload event.

4. Medical fit-test certificate. Conducted at a DOFE-approved Kathmandu centre, the Patan testing infrastructure is the most common, and signed by the examining physician on the standard DOFE form. Validity is typically 90 days; expired medicals are a common cause of last-week corridor delays.

5. Police clearance certificate. Issued by Nepal Police at the district level; bears the candidate's biometric record. Valid for 6 months at issuance.

6. PDOS completion certificate. Issued by the SaMi/HELVETAS-aligned training centre or the agency's authorised PDOS partner. The seminar runs 1-3 days and covers worker rights at destination, the Welfare Fund channel, repatriation procedures, and destination-specific cultural orientation. Without the PDOS certificate, DOFE will not issue the labour permit, there is no waiver.

7. Foreign Employment Welfare Fund contribution receipt. The Welfare Fund is statute-resourced under the Foreign Employment Act 2064 and pays compensation in cases of death (currently NPR 1,000,000 to the family), permanent disability, repatriation of remains, and emergency medical incidents at destination. The contribution is paid at permit issuance, bundled into the documentation fee invoiced to the employer, never deducted from the worker's pay under the Employer Pays Principle and the Free Visa Free Ticket reform of May 2024.

The foreign employment insurance policy (mandatory under the Act, two-year term, approximately USD 90 per worker) is an eighth document Werklist's Kathmandu team files alongside the seven above; it activates Welfare Fund cover and adds private medical coverage at destination.

Where the documentation file most often comes back for correction

Three failure modes account for most of the labour-permit return events we have seen on the Nepal-to-EU corridor. First, expired medicals at the visa-stamping back-up, medicals dated against a planned departure that slipped 30 days fail the 90-day validity test. Fix: book the medical against the realistic visa-D issuance date, not the optimistic one. Second, passport validity short of the destination requirement, Croatia enforces 18 months past contract end; some Werklist files have arrived at 14 months. Fix: passport check is the first step on shortlist confirmation, not a last-week step. Third, PDOS certificates that pre-date contract signing, DOFE flags PDOS completion against contract signing date as a worker-protection check. Fix: sequence PDOS after contract signing, not before.

The cost line items and who pays them

Under the Employer Pays Principle written into Nepali statute and the Free Visa Free Ticket reform of May 2024 for in-scope destinations, the worker pays nothing toward documentation, attestation, visa, medical, PDOS, or travel. The employer covers every line, channelled through Werklist's Kathmandu entity to keep the audit trail clean and the receipts auditable in NPR with destination-currency conversion. The line items are: DOFE labour permit issuance fee, Welfare Fund contribution, foreign employment insurance two-year premium, medical fit-test, police clearance, biometric enrolment, PDOS contribution, and the destination-side visa-D fee. Total Nepal-side pass-through fees on a single worker (excluding the destination visa and air ticket) sit in a band Werklist quotes against the corridor and trade, volume above 20 workers per corridor moves the band, and welder 3G/6G trade tests at the Patan testing centre add a per-head testing fee that bills at actual cost.

The permit itself is the artefact that ties this back to the regulator. Anyone who quotes a Nepal corridor without the permit number in hand at first shift has not actually mobilised the file.

The Kathmandu branch, where the permit file actually moves

Werklist's Kathmandu branch holds the DOFE recruitment licence under the Foreign Employment Act 2064, walks files through the Maharajgunj office every working week, runs the Patan testing centre relationship for trade tests, and holds the SaMi/HELVETAS PDOS slot. The branch lead, the photographed team, the languages spoken in the office, and the licence number with renewal date live on the Kathmandu branch page.

If you are scoping a Nepal corridor and want the document chain mapped against your destination and target start date, send a brief. We reply within one business day with the timeline and the corridor fit, whether you sign with us or not.