Recruitment Agency Register

Official online lookupHas not ratified ILO C181

Recruitment agency licensing in Nepal

Licensing authority: Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), which grants licences under the Foreign Employment Act, 2064 (2007).4,1

How to check an agency in Nepal

The DoFE foreign employment portal has a recruitment agency search by name, permission number and status.2,1

Open the official lookup

Who needs a licence

Section 10 of the Foreign Employment Act says "No one shall carry on the foreign employment business without obtaining a license pursuant to this Act."4

Fees charged to workers

Under section 24 of the Act the government may set an upper limit on what a licensee collects from each worker for a given country or company, including the service fee and promotional costs such as visa fees. Under section 53, a licensee that charges more than the prescribed amount, or charges a visa fee after a free visa was received, must return the excess to the worker on the Department's order and is fined 100,000 rupees. Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Sah said licensed agencies may charge only Rs10,000 as a service fee, under the policy known as free visa, free ticket, which covers Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE and Malaysia, according to The Kathmandu Post.4,5,6

Licence conditions

Under section 11 of the Act, an applicant pays the prescribed fees and a deposit of three million rupees in cash, or 700,000 rupees in cash with the rest by bank guarantee. Under section 12 a licence is valid for up to one financial year and must be renewed each year, and renewal fees may be paid for three financial years at once.4

Reporting an unlicensed agency

DoFE runs an online complaint and case management system (ujuri.dofe.gov.np) and lists toll free number 1140 and email info@dofe.gov.np. Under section 36 of the Act a worker not given employment on the agreed terms may complain to DoFE, which may order the licensee to pay compensation. Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Sah urged the public to use the government hotline Hello Sarkar (1111) or the Foreign Employment Call Centre (1141), according to The Kathmandu Post.1,4,5

ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention (C181)

Not ratified7

Main law

Developments

  1. The Kathmandu Post reported that about 1,200 licensed agencies were active and that the Department of Foreign Employment had acted against 771 agencies in recent months. A ministry spokesperson said a draft amendment to the Foreign Employment Act had been circulated to other ministries.6

Checked 28 October 2026. This page describes the licensing system. It does not list or rate individual agencies.

Sources

  1. Department of Foreign Employment, Government of Nepal, Department of Foreign Employment
  2. Department of Foreign Employment, Government of Nepal, Recruitment Agency search
  3. Department of Foreign Employment, Government of Nepal, Acts
  4. Department of Foreign Employment, Government of Nepal, Foreign Employment Act, 2064 (2007) (2007)
  5. The Kathmandu Post, Manpower agencies charging over Rs10,000 as service fee come under scrutiny (5 April 2026)
  6. The Kathmandu Post, Nepal's migrant labour system runs through manpower agencies. So do many of its abuses (9 August 2026)
  7. Government of the Netherlands, Treaty Database, Convention concerning Private Employment Agencies, Geneva, 19-06-1997 (29 January 2026)