Decentralisation brings immigration clearance closer to migrant workers

Migrant workers will soon be able to get immigration clearance from district manpower offices as the government is going to decentralise this service from next month, officials said.

Immigration clearance is a mandatory process that workers have to go through while going abroad with a work visa. At present, this service is provided at the head office of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) in Dhaka.

Officials anticipate that the decentralising immigration clearance service will reduce the pressure on the head office.

Initially, for countries with established online visa services and lower risks of forgery, immigration clearance will be issued from District Employment and Manpower Offices, directing around 85 per cent of clearances to district-level offices.

This adjustment targets Middle Eastern countries, which generally experience fewer instances of visa forgery.

A BMET official confirmed the programme's launch across all District Employment and Manpower Offices next month.

While BMET currently operates 42 district-level offices, this office will open in the remaining 22 districts on a limited scale from this month, he said.

The newly established district-level offices will initially operate within technical training centres, with plans for separate office spaces next year, he said.

The districts slated to open new offices include Gazipur, Narayanganj, Sherpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Bagerhat, Magura, Jhalkhathi, Thakurgaon, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Naogaon, Natore, Lakshmipur, Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Sunamganj, Pirojpur, Narail, Meherpur and Rajbari.

In response to a query, the official said skilled workers will have the option of obtaining immigration clearance online, while less skilled workers will need to go through their respective manpower recruiting agencies.

The official noted that this distinction is intended to safeguard less skilled workers, who may be more vulnerable to exploitation.

Besides, all workers will have the scope to download their smart cards online after completing the immigration clearance process, as the use of physical smart cards will soon be phased out.

The services offered by the district-level offices include visa-related document checking, pre-departure orientation, compensation services for families of deceased migrant workers, financial assistance for repatriated sick migrant workers, fingerprinting of outbound workers and awareness programme.

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