The Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan as of March 25, 2019, No. 244, approves the Regulation "On the procedure for attracting and using labor in the Republic of Uzbekistan" (hereinafter – the Regulation).
In accordance with the Regulation, as before, employers are not permitted to attract foreign labor to the Republic of Uzbekistan without obtaining the relevant license. Foreign nationals, in turn, may carry out labor activities on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan only subject to the annual confirmation. At the same time, the Regulation approved a new procedure for employers to obtain the license and confirm foreign nationals.
The main amendments envisaged in the new Regulation are indicated below:
- The scope of the "employer" concept was broadened
Under the previous regulation, the term "employer" covered only legal entities registered in Uzbekistan.
The new Regulation does not limit the scope of the term "employer" to Uzbek legal entities. According to the new definition, an employer is any legal entity acting on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In addition, the definition of an 'employer' includes citizens and individual entrepreneurs. Thus, the new Regulation also applies to non-resident legal entities that attract foreign labor force in Uzbekistan. Accordingly, it can be concluded that a non-resident legal entity carrying out activities in the Republic of Uzbekistan through a permanent establishment is also obliged to obtain a license for attracting foreign specialists.
- Streamlined process
Under the previous regulations, the applicant had to refer to the state services centers to obtain the license, whereas the documents for obtaining the confirmation should have been submitted to the Agency for External Labor Migration under the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan (hereinafter – the Agency).
Under the new regulations, both the license and confirmation can be obtained by applying to the state services centers or registering on the Unified portal of interactive state services or the online platform.1
- Processing time for applications is reduced by half
Previously, the decision on issuing the license or confirmation was made within 30 days (or within 15 days for highly qualified foreign specialists with unique experience in industrial activity) from the date the employer submitted the documents.
With the adoption of the new Regulation, this term was reduced by half, and now the Agency must make a decision within 15 working days
- Fees increased significantly
Previously, the applicant paid a fee for issuing a confirmation and a fee for issuing a license; these fees were equal to 10 MOW2 each.
The new procedure provides for a significant increase to the fees. In particular, the fee for issuing a license equals 50 MOW, whereas the fee for issuing the confirmation varies depending on the category of the foreign specialist:
- For highly qualified specialists,3 as well as teachers and specialists, attracted to work in the presidential schools and universities ¬¬– 1 MOW
- For qualified specialists4 – 2 MOW
- For compatriots – 2 MOW
- For other foreign nationals – 30 MOW
- Fees are charged for processing applications
Now fees are also charged for processing the applications for license and confirmation. The fee per each application equals 1 MOW.
- Three-year confirmation now applies only to certain categories of persons
According to the existing practice, confirmation was issued to foreign nationals for the period of their employment visas. Thus, if an employment visa was issued for three years, then the confirmation was usually issued for the same period. However, the changes provide that confirmations for three years will be issued only for certain categories of persons. We assume that confirmations for all other foreign nationals will be issued for a period of one year.
Footnotes
1 According to the Decree No.244, the online platform is to be developed within three months.
2 Minimum official wage (MOW) is equal to 202,730 UZS (approximately $25).
3 A highly qualified specialist is a foreign national who has graduated from one of the top 1000 universities (approved by the relevant Government resolution), has at least five years of working experience in the stated profession with the annual salary of at least $60,000.
4 A qualified specialist is a foreign national with higher education who has at least five years of working experience in the stated profession with the annual salary of at least $30,000.
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