Ministry approval becomes a condition for departure
Bangladesh has ordered the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) to withhold emigration clearance for workers heading to 12 countries unless the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment has granted recruitment permission or approval. The instruction puts an additional government check between a job offer abroad and a worker's departure.
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The ministry's Employment-3 branch sent the directive to BMET's director general in a letter dated Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Deputy Secretary Gazi Md. Shahed Anwar signed the letter. The instruction concerns Bangladeshis travelling for employment, with BMET required to check for ministry approval before considering their clearance.
The ministry letter gives no reason for the tighter requirements. Ministry and BMET officials have linked the decision to protecting workers, preventing recruitment fraud and reducing irregular migration. The concerns range from workers being moved across borders by traffickers to people being confined abroad and forced to commit online fraud.
For a person preparing to leave Bangladesh, the immediate consequence is practical: an overseas job offer and a visa are only part of the process. The recruitment arrangement must also have the ministry's permission before BMET can issue the required emigration clearance.
Which destinations are covered?
The destinations initially identified were Serbia, Moldova, Belarus, Congo, Russia, Japan, Iraq, Laos, Vietnam, Croatia, Ukraine and Libya. Published descriptions of the ministry instruction also name Cambodia instead of Croatia, while descriptions of the notice circulated to recruitment agencies name Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cambodia instead of Congo, Russia and Croatia.
One account gives the list as Serbia, Moldova, Belarus, Congo, Russia, Japan, Iraq, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Ukraine and Libya. Another gives it as Serbia, Moldova, Belarus, Kosovo, Russia, Japan, Iraq, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Ukraine and Libya. Both describe ministry permission or approval as a prerequisite for BMET clearance, but they differ over whether Congo or Kosovo is covered.
The exact country list therefore needs confirmation directly with the ministry or BMET before a worker pays for recruitment or finalises travel. That check is especially important for anyone considering a destination named in the differing lists.
Workers should ask about the approval attached to their particular recruitment arrangement, rather than relying on a broad assurance that recruitment to a country is open. The instruction makes ministry permission a condition for clearance, so the relevant question is whether that permission exists for the proposed employment.
The Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) also informed its member agencies of the requirement by letter on November 4, 2026, following the ministry's instruction. That communication brings the condition directly to the businesses arranging overseas jobs.
How the approval process works
BMET is the government bureau responsible for the emigration clearance discussed in the directive. In simple terms, this clearance is Bangladesh's authorisation for a worker to leave for overseas employment after the required recruitment checks. A visa is permission from the destination country for a particular purpose, such as visiting or working.
The ministry's instruction connects two government steps: recruitment permission or approval from the ministry, followed by consideration of emigration clearance by BMET. Recruitment agencies must secure the necessary approval and cannot send workers through the clearance process without it.
The sequence described in the notices is:
- On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, the ministry's Employment-3 branch sent the instruction to BMET's director general.
- BAIRA notified its member recruitment agencies by letter on November 4, 2026, following the ministry instruction.
- Before a worker receives clearance for a covered destination, the recruitment arrangement must have ministry permission or approval.
No deadline for processing approval or date for reviewing the restriction has been specified in the available accounts. Workers with departure plans therefore need confirmation of their own paperwork before committing to travel.
The requirement is an approval condition for overseas recruitment. Its wording leaves a route for employment to proceed when the ministry has given permission and BMET has issued clearance.
Fake jobs and confinement in scam compounds
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam feature prominently in warnings about Bangladeshis being recruited through false job offers, taken abroad and confined in scam compounds. These are premises where criminal groups force people to carry out online fraud, often while preventing them from leaving.
A person may accept what appears to be an ordinary overseas job, only to find that the promised work is replaced by demands to deceive other people online. The reported abuses include confinement, exploitation and loss of freedom after arrival.
Al Amin Nayan, president of the Anirban Survivor Foundation, has warned about forced work in these compounds and urged prospective migrants to verify recruitment arrangements before making payments. He also highlighted the need to check the employer, employment contract, salary and benefits, visa category and government approval.
Nayan explained why those checks need to go beyond the existence of an offer. In comments translated from Bengali, he said:
In overseas employment, merely obtaining a visa or receiving a job offer through a recruiting agency is no guarantee of legal and safe migration.
For workers, the practical task is to match the promised job to the actual employer and the documents authorising the work. A salary advertised on social media, an agency's reassurance or an attractive destination cannot replace those checks.
Conflict and trafficking create other risks
Russia, Ukraine, Libya, Iraq and Congo were identified in the initial description of the restrictions as destinations affected by war or political instability. Concerns about Bangladeshis caught in the Russia-Ukraine war sit alongside longstanding warnings about kidnapping, ransom demands and human trafficking in Libya, Iraq and Congo.
Workers facing these dangers may lose control over both their employment and their movements. A recruitment problem can become a personal safety emergency when someone is taken to an unsafe location, held for money or prevented from returning home.
Serbia, Moldova, Belarus, Croatia, Laos and Vietnam have also been identified as routes used by brokers trafficking people towards Europe. Reported practices include taking workers abroad with promises of work permits and then moving them across borders, withholding their wages or confiscating legal documents.
A worker whose passport or other documents are taken may struggle to leave an employer, prove their immigration status or arrange a return journey. Someone moved to another country may also find that the permission obtained for the original destination does not cover the place where they have been taken.
The risks described across these destinations differ. Some involve conflict, others deceptive recruitment, and others forced movement or confinement. The approval requirement gives the ministry a checkpoint before workers depart under the recruitment arrangements concerned.
Why Japan also appears in the instruction
Japan appears in the destination lists alongside countries associated with conflict and trafficking routes, but the concerns described for Japan centre on different problems. They include excessive migration costs and Bangladeshis going missing after entering on tourist visas or through the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP).
TITP is a route involving practical training in Japanese workplaces. A tourist visa serves a different purpose: visiting a country. Workers need to know which category they are being offered, what activities it permits and whether the promised employment matches that category.
High recruitment costs also matter before departure. The more money a worker pays to obtain a job, the more wages they must earn simply to recover that expense. If the job changes, pays less than promised or fails to materialise, that financial pressure becomes harder to manage.
The warnings about Japan make verification of costs and visa categories part of the same decision as checking the employer. A worker needs to understand the total payment being requested, the work promised in return and the approvals supporting the arrangement.
What workers should confirm before paying
Nayan advised prospective workers to avoid financial transactions or final decisions until the recruitment process, ministry approval and emigration clearance have been confirmed. The advice is particularly relevant when an agency or intermediary asks for money before showing how the proposed job satisfies the new requirement.
Authorities have also urged workers not to pay any recruiting agency, individual or broker before securing final ministry approval and obtaining a valid BMET immigration clearance card.
Workers considering a covered destination have been urged to check several concrete details:
- The identity of the employer and whether the advertised job genuinely exists.
- The employment contract, including duties, salary and benefits.
- The visa category and whether it permits the proposed work.
- The ministry's recruitment permission or approval.
- Confirmation of the required BMET emigration clearance before departure.
Recruitment warnings also urge caution over unusually high salaries, promises of easy access to overseas jobs and attractive offers promoted through social media. Prospective migrants have been advised to avoid brokers and intermediaries and to verify the recruitment information through the government process.
For agencies, the immediate obligation is to establish that the ministry has approved recruitment before seeking clearance for the workers concerned. For workers and their families, the most consequential decision may come earlier: whether to hand over money before that approval is confirmed.
The measure places government permission at the centre of the departure process. Its practical effect will depend on agencies obtaining the required approval, BMET checking it and workers being able to establish that their promised jobs match their contracts and travel documents.
Key Points
- Bangladesh has made ministry recruitment permission or approval a condition for emigration clearance to 12 destinations.
- BMET received the instruction in a letter dated November 4, 2026, signed by Deputy Secretary Gazi Md. Shahed Anwar.
- Published destination lists contain differences, making direct confirmation with the ministry or BMET essential.
- BAIRA notified member recruitment agencies of the approval requirement on November 4, 2026.
- No approval-processing deadline or review date is specified in the available accounts.
- Warnings cover recruitment fraud, trafficking, conflict risks and forced online fraud in scam compounds.
- Workers have been advised to confirm the employer, contract, pay, visa category, final ministry approval and a valid BMET immigration clearance card before paying or finalising travel.
