Govt to probe causes behind high visa cost to ME states

The government is investigating the reasons behind high visa costs which are hindering Bangladesh's manpower exports abroad especially to Middle Eastern (ME) countries, sources said.

The move has been undertaken as the government noticed lower number of migration to Kuwait, an oil-rich nation in the Middle East.

 "We have recently noticed that small numbers of jobseekers are now going to Kuwait. So, we have decided to investigate the reason as part of our effort to combat visa trading," Additional Secretary of the ministry of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment (MoEWOE) Hazrat Ali told the FE Sunday.

A high-powered committee headed by Mr Ali is working on the issue aiming to reduce migration cost. High migration cost puts pressure on poor jobseekers and they reportedly engage themselves in unlawful activities abroad to earn the money they spent for visa.  

 "The committee is presently examining the reasons of high visa cost in Kuwait. Once the causes of high migration cost to Kuwait are identified, we will be able to find out the reasons of high visa cost to other destinations easily," Mr Ali said.

He said input from various sources is being taken to identify the reasons of high migration costs. "If needed, we will visit Kuwait to talk to government officials concerned including the employers."

The Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuwait recently informed the committee that a jobseeker pays up to nearly Tk 271,000 to procure a visa which goes to employer, sponsors, recruiting agents and middlemen.

However, sources said, the cost reaches up to Tk 350,000 to Tk 400,000 for the jobseekers to reach Kuwait.

According to the embassy officials, the visas change hands several times starting from sponsors/employers to various stages of middlemen until they reach Bangladesh.

After that main buyers of visas sell those to other recruiting agencies which employ middlemen across the countries to collect jobseekers. "Since the visas change hands several times both in Bangladesh and abroad, the visa cost goes up significantly putting pressure on jobseekers," said another MoEWOE official.

After long seven years of closure the Kuwait government opened its labour market to Bangladeshi workers in January this year. During the January-June period only 700 Bangladeshi workers went to Kuwait with employment visa while another 500 are under process to reach there.

Another MoEWOE official said it is not usual that such a small number of workers will go to Kuwait in a year. "Had the visa cost been within the reach of poor jobseekers, the number of migrated people meantime could have multiplied," he said.

Statistics show that some 475,278 Bangladeshis got foreign jobs in 2009, some 390,702 in 2010, about 568,062 in 2011, nearly 607,798 in 2012, and 409,253 in 2013. On the other hand, some 239,808 people secured work visa until July this year.

The official said the high visa cost is taking a serious toll on migration of Bangladeshi jobseekers to the ME countries. The number of people securing work visa abroad may further fall unless the visa cost is reduced to a logical level, he added.