Malaysia Reopens Recruitment for Bangladeshi Workers, With Fees and Job Numbers Still Undecided

338 agencies approved as recruitment resumes

Bangladesh announced on October 15, 2026, that recruitment for jobs in Malaysia could begin again through 338 approved agencies, reopening a major employment route suspended in May 2024. Malaysia has also agreed in principle to accept 10,000 Bangladeshi workers at no cost to them, following a special request from Bangladesh.

The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said workers could begin recruitment procedures through approved agencies and undergo health examinations at authorised medical centres. The announcement leaves two decisions central to household finances unsettled: the recruitment fee for the wider programme and the total number of workers Malaysia will accept.

The approved organisations comprise Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Limited (BOESL), the country's sole government recruiting agency, 25 private processing or service agencies, and 312 recruiting agencies. BOESL and the 25 private processors will handle administrative work connected with Malaysian visas, while recruiting agencies will find employers and select workers.

Ministry public relations officer Shariful Islam, who signed the announcement, said the recruitment cost and the number of workers had yet to be finalised.

"The ministry will decide on the recruitment cost and the number of workers to be sent to Malaysia shortly," he said.

For prospective migrants, the immediate change is the ability to start applying through the approved system. The financial terms will determine how much they must borrow or save before leaving. During the previous recruitment period, from 2022 to 2024, workers reportedly paid as much as Tk 600,000, despite a government recruitment fee set far below that amount.

What the promise of 10,000 free placements means

Malaysia's agreement in principle covers 10,000 workers who would pay no recruitment cost. The ministry presented the arrangement as a response to Bangladesh's request to make overseas employment more affordable.

The wider reopening still awaits a fee decision. Workers applying outside the proposed free placements therefore face a different financial situation from those selected for them. Eligibility rules, the application timetable, the expenses covered and the arrangements for paying those expenses have not been announced.

Official estimates put the number of Bangladeshis currently working in Malaysia at about 898,970, making them one of its largest foreign worker communities, after Indonesians and Nepalese. The proposed 10,000 free placements equal roughly 1.1 percent of that existing Bangladeshi workforce. The comparison shows the scale of the initiative against an already substantial migration relationship.

For a family considering a Malaysian job, a place without recruitment charges could remove a major initial expense. The value of that promise will depend on how the programme handles the individual costs that arise during recruitment, including administrative procedures and medical examinations.

How workers will move through the system

The ministry described four stages of recruitment. Approved agencies will first contact Malaysian employers and obtain job demand letters. A demand letter records an employer's request to recruit workers and provides the basis for an agency to begin selecting candidates.

The agency holding that demand letter will then select workers in Bangladesh and conduct recruitment under Bangladeshi laws and regulations. BOESL and the 25 private processing agencies will assist with procedures involving Malaysian authorities, including calling visas, electronic visas and other required administrative steps.

The recruiting agency will complete the process by obtaining clearance from Bangladesh's Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). This is the formal clearance required under Bangladesh's overseas employment procedures. Each approved agency can obtain it for its selected workers under its own recruiting licence.

BOESL and the 25 private processors can issue no-objection certificates, or NOCs, needed for that clearance. These documents record that the processing agency has no objection to the relevant recruitment proceeding.

The ministry says this structure preserves each recruiting agency's responsibility and operational independence. In practical terms, an agency can find an employer and choose workers itself, while using one of the designated processors for the Malaysian administrative stages.

Why the agency structure faces criticism

The division between 312 recruiting agencies and 26 designated processors has prompted concern that access to visa processing could concentrate power in a smaller group. Recruiting agencies have permission to find jobs independently, but their workers still need administrative assistance from BOESL or one of the 25 private processors.

Shakirul Islam, founding chairperson of the migrant rights organisation Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program, alleged that the arrangement placed some agencies in a subordinate position to an existing recruitment syndicate. He warned that two layers of agency operations could increase charges, expose workers to exploitation and weaken accountability.

"Some recruiting agencies have been made sub-agents of the syndicate in the present recruitment process," he said.

Expatriates' welfare ministry secretary Md Mokhtar Ahmed rejected the description of a hierarchy imposed by Bangladesh's government. He said Malaysia had selected the agencies.

"The Malaysian side selected the recruiting agencies. We will not describe any agency as principal or associate," he said.

The practical issue for workers is how charges and responsibilities will be divided between the agency recruiting them and the organisation handling their documents. A worker needs to know which organisation is responsible for each payment and each stage of the application, particularly if processing stalls.

Past fees explain the concern about costs

Bangladesh previously set the recruitment cost for Malaysia at Tk 79,000. Workers nevertheless reportedly spent more than Tk 500,000, with costs reaching Tk 600,000 during the 2022 to 2024 recruitment period.

A Tk 600,000 payment is about 7.6 times the previous official fee of Tk 79,000, a difference of Tk 521,000. Those figures explain why the new fee decision matters as much to many applicants as the reopening itself. An overseas job can begin with a substantial debt before the worker earns a first wage.

The ministry says recruitment should create employment without placing an excessive financial burden on workers. It has urged agencies to obey the law, protect workers' interests and keep the process affordable, safe and transparent.

Previous disputes show how recruitment debt can combine with unpaid wages. On November 11, 2025, about 100 former Malaysian factory workers gathered outside the ministry in Dhaka during a protest over unpaid wages. The Migrant Welfare Network said 431 Bangladeshi workers at Mediceram and Kawaguchi Manufacturing had been denied lawful pay and basic protections.

Workers involved in those disputes described returning to Bangladesh with debts after periods without wages. Their demands included payment of outstanding earnings, compensation and the ability to change employers promptly when a company closes or breaks the law. For new applicants, recruitment charges and reliable payment after arrival are connected parts of the same household calculation.

Medical checks will start before a revised list is complete

Bangladesh and Malaysia are still finalising a revised list of medical centres authorised to examine workers. Under the existing bilateral arrangement, approving those centres is a joint responsibility.

The ministry said recruitment would begin through centres remaining on Malaysia's existing approved website list, with centres associated with irregularities excluded. It said Bangladeshi authorities would scrutinise the operating centres, require compliance with local rules and suspend those found involved in wrongdoing.

Concerns persist about the centres involved. Seventeen medical centres described as affiliated with agencies linked to the alleged syndicate from earlier recruitment remain involved in the process. The ministry's account says controversial centres have been excluded from the operating list. The status of those 17 centres needs clarification as the revised list is completed.

A delegation from Malaysia's ministries of health, human resources and home affairs is expected to visit Bangladesh to inspect medical centres before final approval. No date was given for the visit or completion of the revised list.

The ministry said additional approved centres would be announced on the relevant website and through the ministry. It also said no single centre would receive exclusive authority to conduct the examinations, allowing health checks to be distributed among authorised providers.

How the agencies were selected

The ministry says the Bangladesh and Malaysia memorandum of understanding signed on December 18, 2022, assigns responsibility for selecting and listing recruiting agencies to Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources. Agencies must meet Malaysian eligibility requirements.

Bangladesh's interim government began the vetting process and submitted 423 agencies for consideration after Malaysia relaxed some conditions during discussions. The approved group now totals 338 organisations. Malaysia has not publicly explained the criteria used to choose the 25 private processing agencies.

The current government continued negotiations after taking office. According to the ministry, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman raised reopening the labour market with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during his first official foreign visit, to Malaysia.

Expatriates' welfare minister Ariful Haque Choudhury had also announced the planned reopening at several events before the October statement. The latest announcement adds the agency structure and recruitment procedure, giving applicants and agencies a more concrete route to begin the process.

A recruitment route repeatedly opened and closed

Malaysia first formally opened its labour market to Bangladeshi workers in the 1990s. Recruitment has since been suspended and restarted several times, amid recurring concerns about excessive fees, unauthorised brokers, workers arriving without jobs and labour abuses.

The main changes over the past two decades show how often access has shifted:

• 2009: Malaysia closed its labour market to Bangladeshi workers.
• Late 2016: Recruitment reopened.
• September 2018: Recruitment was suspended amid allegations of corruption and irregularities.
• 2022: Recruitment reopened again.
• March 2024: Malaysia announced a temporary halt to new recruitment and required workers already holding approvals and visas to enter by May 31.
• May 2024: Recruitment from Bangladesh was suspended.
• October 15, 2026: Bangladesh announced that recruitment procedures could begin through the newly approved agencies.

The March announcement and May deadline in 2024 were stages of the same shutdown: new recruitment was halted, while workers with existing approvals had a final window to enter Malaysia. The October 2026 announcement now starts a new recruitment process after that prolonged closure.

For applicants, the next concrete decisions concern the ordinary recruitment fee, the total intake, access to the 10,000 free placements and the final medical centre list. The ministry's stated aim is wider agency participation with lower costs. Those decisions will determine what an individual worker must pay and which organisations will handle the journey from a job offer to departure.

Key Points

• Bangladesh announced the restart of recruitment for Malaysian jobs on October 15, 2026.
• The approved system includes BOESL, 25 private processing agencies and 312 recruiting agencies.
• Malaysia agreed in principle to accept 10,000 workers at no recruitment cost to them.
• The wider programme's recruitment fee and total worker intake remain undecided.
• Recruiting agencies can find employers and select workers, while designated processors assist with Malaysian administrative procedures.
• A revised medical centre list awaits inspections and joint approval by Bangladesh and Malaysia.
• Previous recruitment costs reached Tk 600,000 against an official fee of Tk 79,000.