The Cabinet has today decided to introduce a work permit fee from expatriate workers. They took the decision after discussing a paper prepared by the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports on the issue.
The cabinet also discussed a research paper about the possible effects of a work permit fee on the tourism and construction industry.
The government will fix the work permit fee after considering relevant factors such as the pay-scale of Maldivians and foreign workers, the demand for jobs by Maldivians in a particular sector, so that it will be cheaper to hire Maldivians.
The work permit fee will be charged from 1 September 2009 onwards. Expatriates who are currently working in the Maldives will be charged work permit fee when they renew their work permit next time.
Cabinet members pointed out that it was important to take immediate measures to reduce the number of foreign workers in the Maldives. There are currently more than 78,000 foreign workers in the Maldives.
