Nepal is currently home to 2,300 foreign nationals from 74 countries, all legally working in the country with labor permits, according to the Department of Labour and Occupational Safety under the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security.
In the fiscal year 2024/25, 700 new foreign workers received labor permits, while 1,600 renewed their existing ones to continue their employment. These skilled professionals are primarily employed in sectors such as infrastructure development and business operations. Workers from countries like India, China, and the United States are among the top nationalities granted legal permission to work in Nepal.
Under Nepalese labor law, only skilled foreign nationals can be hired for jobs where no qualified Nepali citizen is available. Employers must justify this before seeking a permit. Permits are generally issued for one year, and in cases of highly specialized roles, they can be extended up to 12 years. Importantly, companies are mandated to train Nepali workers to eventually take over the roles held by foreign professionals.
Over the years, Nepal has issued labor permits to more than 22,000 foreign nationals, with 2,300 currently residing and working legally in the country. The Department of Labour continues to regulate the sector by issuing and renewing labor supplier licenses. In the last fiscal year alone, 52 new labor supply companies were licensed, and 420 existing firms had their licenses renewed.
However, the actual number of foreign workers, particularly from India, may be much higher. Owing to the open border policy, many Indians are employed informally across a range of sectors including retail, construction, and services—often without official documentation or labor permits. The government, however, lacks an accurate record of how many Indian nationals are working under such informal arrangements.
This dual dynamic of regulated skilled employment and unrecorded informal labor continues to shape Nepal’s evolving labor market in an increasingly globalized regional context.
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