Home Minister: No immediate plans to raise expat fees

The government has no immediate plans to raise the fees levied on recruiters of expatriate workers, said Home Minister Ali Ihusan on Tuesday, a day after the Parliament passed legislature empowering the government to raise the fees.

In a press briefing on Tuesday morning, Ihusan said the government has no immediate plans to raise any fees, including the quota fee.

The law current prescribes an annual quota fee of MVR 2,000 and a fee of MVR 350 for work permits for expatriate workers.

Both fees must be paid by employers.

On Monday, the Parliament passed amendments to the Employment Act that allow the government the option of reviewing the fee rates every 18 months. It also states that the revised rates must be capped at 30 percent of the existing rates.

The legislature was opposed by several lawmakers, including Maamigili MP Qasim Ibrahim, a businessman and leader of the government-aligned Jumhoory Party (JP).

The Home Ministry recently increased efforts to recover funds owed by recruiters and employers of expatriate workers.

On July 24, the ministry publicized a list of 1,026 companies that owe the state over MVR 100,000 in fees and penalties. The companies, which collectively owed the state MVR 672 million, were told to settle the payments by August 12.

The ministry said it received MVR 182 million in outstanding fees and penalties by Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Ihusan told reporters that he understands employers will find it hard to suddenly settle such large sums, after lack of enforcement efforts for such a long time.

He said that the ministry will therefore give the companies the option of settling the outstanding payments over a period of one year.

“When we look at this, there many be some strong businesses that were unable to pay the dues due to financial difficulties. So, lets opt for a settlement with the government for eight or 12 months,” he said.

Ihusan provided assurance that companies that come to such an agreement with the government will not be penalized.

At a session of the ‘Ahaa’ public forum back in April, Ihusan said the government aims to resolve the issue of illegal migration – a longstanding issue in the Maldives - in three years.

In May, the Home Ministry launched ‘Operation Kurangi’ – designed to collect the biometric data of all expatriate workers – in what Ihusan said was phase one of the initiative, which will wrap up in one year.

He said that once the data on all expatriates are collected and entered into a system, the government will then regularize all undocumented expatriates.

Ihusan warned that those who fail to make use of the opportunity will be deported.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport expatriates, but to give them a chance to get regularized.

Meanwhile, Immigration and the police have been conducting raids in a special joint operation targeting businesses run by illegal expatriates.

Over 2,000 expatriates have been deported as part of the crackdown.