The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology has confirmed that quota slots for work permits revoked due to non-payment of foreigner-related fees and penalties will only be released once all outstanding fees and penalties have been settled in full.
Earlier, the Ministry had provided concessions to employers under an agreement allowing the payment of pending fees in instalments.
The Ministry said it has now agreed to cancel work permits issued to employers who have not immediately cleared pending payments, provided the employer agrees to pay the fees and penalties associated with work permits through the Expat System. The quota slots of the cancelled work permits will be released only after full settlement of all fees and penalties connected with the permit.
According to the Ministry, 68,000 employers are registered on the Expat Portal, of which only 7,900 are paying regular fees regularly. More than 8,000 people have been suspended from the Expat system for not paying fees related to foreigners. The government has so far recovered USD 77.8 million of the USD 110.23 million owed in foreigners worker fees by employers.
The government is undertaking extensive efforts to collect information on foreigners and address related issues. To date, the Ministry has collected biometric data from more than 177,000 foreigners living in the Maldives.