Nepali workers going to the United Arab Emirates for jobs are having a time. They are facing financial and procedural problems for the past two months. This started after the UAE government made police clearance certificates compulsory for Nepali workers. Now they have to pay money and they also have to wait a time to get their visa processed.

Earlier Nepali workers could go to the UAE without needing a police report. The new rule is causing them trouble. Nepali workers are really feeling the pinch of this rule.

The UAE is a destination for Nepali workers seeking foreign employment. They are finding it hard to adjust to the requirements. Police clearance certificates are now a must, for them.

This is adding to their cost and time.

Police Clearance Rule Adds Extra Cost for Workers

The thing that happened with the Gen Z movement on Bhadra 23 and 24 which is 8 and 9 September 2025 is that the UAE started saying that Nepali workers need to get police clearance certificates. So now every single Nepali worker has to pay a 353.27 UAE dirhams, which is like around NPR 14,128.

This has been a problem for workers since November. The police clearance certificate is only good for three months.. The bad part is that workers have to wait up to 15 days to even get it which makes the whole thing very expensive and it takes a long time.

People who help Nepali workers find jobs, in countries say that this new rule is putting extra financial stress on Nepali workers.

Agencies Say Government Response Is Weak

The government of Nepal is being criticized by foreign employment agencies for not saying anything about what’s going on. These agencies think that workers from Nepal are being treated badly and the government is not doing enough to help them.

The former president of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies, Rajendra Bhandari says that the government is not doing a job of standing up for the workers. He says that the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security sent a letter to someone but that is not enough to solve the problem.

Rajendra Bhandari also says that a lot of workers from Nepal around 500 go to the UAE every day. So the government cannot just ignore the problems that these workers are having.

Rajendra Bhandari thinks that what the UAE is doing is not fair and it is disrespectful to workers from Nepal. He believes that the government should try to get the UAE to change its decision by talking to them and trying to come to an agreement.

The Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies and Rajendra Bhandari want the government of Nepal to do more to help workers, from Nepal who are going to the UAE. He says that the government should do something to protect the rights of workers.

Government Says Diplomatic Efforts Are Ongoing

The General Secretary of the association Mahesh Kumar Basnet thinks that the government is not doing a job with this problem. He believes the government should be doing more to help. Mahesh Kumar Basnet said that the association has asked the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs times to do something about this and get back the extra money that workers have paid.

The person who speaks for the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security Pitambar Ghimire said that the ministry cares about what’s happening. Pitambar Ghimire said that the ministry has already sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking them to get involved and help fix the problem.. He said that so far the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not gotten back, to them. The Ministry of Labour is waiting to hear from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about what they can do to help the workers and the association. Mahesh Kumar Basnet and the association are still waiting for something to be done about the cost that workers have paid.

Nepali workers in Abu Dhabi

Foreign Ministry Says Policy Was Temporary

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri stated that the government is aware of the difficulties that Nepali workers face when they go to the United Arab Emirates. He said that the government is working to make things easier for these workers.

The UAE Ambassador to Nepal is not in Nepal now. He has gone back to his country for some work. Discussions will happen when he comes back to Nepal to try to solve this problem.

Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri said that when Nepali workers apply for a visa to go to the United Arab Emirates they need to get a police clearance certificate from Nepal Police. This certificate is Checked by a private company called VFS Global.

However it is the UAE Embassy in Kathmandu that decides how visas are issued and how much the fees will be.

Lok Bahadur Paudel Chhetri also said that after some problems with the Gen Z movement the United Arab Emirates made it harder for people, from Nepal to get a visa.

Then Nepal asked the United Arab Emirates to start giving visas to workers again but only if they had a police clearance certificate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now going to review this rule and see if it needs to be changed because it was only meant to be a solution.

UAE Remains a Top Destination for Nepali Workers

The United Arab Emirates is still one of the places for people from Nepal to go and work and travel. The Department of Foreign Employment says that out of 839,266 people who got permission to work outside Nepal in the year 2081/82 (2025/026) 274,590 people chose to go to the United Arab Emirates. That is a lot of people, it is thirty two percent of all the people who got permission to work outside Nepal.

It is really simple people from Nepal have to pay money and wait for a very long time to get a work and travel visa, for the United Arab Emirates.