TDS Desk:

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Adviser Asif Nazrul has said Oman has assured that work visas for Bangladeshis would be reopened within the next two months.

He disclosed the matter after a meeting with Oman’s Labour Minister Mahad bin Said bin Ali Baowain on the sidelines of the Global Labour Market Conference in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia on Monday.

During the discussion, Asif Nazrul praised Oman’s initiative to regularise irregular Bangladeshi workers without imposing any fines.

He also urged the Omani minister to facilitate the entry of skilled Bangladeshi professionals, including engineers, doctors and nurses, into Oman’s labour market.

At the same time, he requested a review of the suspension on visas for unskilled and semi-skilled workers, said a PID handout.

The Omani labour minister said new work visas for unskilled and semi-skilled workers have been temporarily suspended since 2023 to prioritise the regularisation of undocumented migrant workers already in Oman.

Asif Nazrul highlighted Bangladesh’s ongoing efforts to improve migration management through the use of technology, ensuring transparency and accountability, legal reforms, pre-departure skill verification, and training on host country language, culture and laws.

He also proposed convening the next meeting of the Joint Technical Committee in Muscat in the first half of this year.

The adviser invited the Omani minister to sign a finalised memorandum of understanding to further strengthen bilateral relations and enhance labour cooperation between the two countries.