How important is it to get the Shram Karyalaya sticker for someone who is on an H-1b visa? Will there be trouble at the airport in Kathmandu?

I just went to the Karyalaya today. I would complete the whole process if it were only the Rs. 500 fee at the Karyalaya. But they want a health report. And insurance documentation from Rastriya Beema Sansthan (RBS). Apparently, the fact that my work provides me with comprehensive health, dental and life insurance is not enough. I was told it HAS to be from RBS. They were unable to tell me what type of insurance I need.

The uncompetitive nexus between the government and RBS aside, I really question if RBS will actually "help" me if I get into some trouble in a foreign land. Not to speak of the redundancy in coverage. Do you think I could just skip the entire process?

Hey bro,

Yes, it is mighty important that you get that sticker before going to the airport or the immigration will not let you through. I have heard one or two other instances where this has happened. I think if you pay a little bit more and go through the brokers standing outside the building, you will get it done quickly and they will handle all the process. I would suggest you take their help.

Enjoy your trip.

You seem to tired with all this bull shit in Nepal.The sticker is a must.You will not be allowed to board the plane.I was also thinking the same,but after consulting with my friend in a airline company,I knew I have to have the sticker no matter what.
A helper at the office was after me and was asking me Rs. 3000 for the whole process,but i did it myself.The actual fee for US/Europe is Rs. 1500.Do not do insurance from RBS,beacuase you are not going to use it anyway.I had insurance from RBS for 1 year for a fee of Rs 250.I had a doctor friend who gave me a free medical report and that worked.It was a report on the hospital's letterhead stating that he/she has checked you thoroughly and found that you are in a perfect physical health.Doctor has to have a
registered physician.However,They did not accept my insurance from RBS,beacuase they want insurance for 2 years.I had to get another insurance from a broker just outside the office for only around rs. 85.They will just prepare your insurance paper within 2 minutes.I just wasted Rs 250 for doing it from RBS.You can do the whole thing on ur own within Rs. 1600 if you can get a free medical report.Otherwise you add that cost too.I even had an argument with hakim there ,telling him that we have our full insurance from our company in the US. He understands the problem,but can not do anything,beacuase it's the rule.Took about 2 hours for the entire process.
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When you enter the immigration section,there is small counter where they check your sticker.I deliberatley skipped that section and went straight to immigration.The guy at the immigration checked my passport and sent me back to that that section again to have my sticker checked.Thank god I had the sticker.Even though, it does not make sense,but i got do do it.
i hope this helps
Khuitte

Thanks a bunch, friends. I am going to follow Khuitte's formula. Do you know if 1500 is the current fee (or maybe it's gone up since you did it)? Thanks a lot again.

khuitte,
Is this whole process requires for those ppl whose company applied H1B for them while the candidate is still in Nepal??

Aug25
Absolutely.This rule applies to anyone going abroad for temporay employment.From what I understand,this rule was actually meant for people going to middle east and Malaysia and so on to protect them,beacause man power agencies do not comply with the medical/accidental benefits when they send people.Now it applies to anyone going out of nepal on a visa for an employment.
cheers

It even applies to people who switch from F-1 to H1b while in the US, but then go home to Nepal for vacation and get a new H1b visa stamp from the embassy before returning to the US.

Last time I got my US visa at 2 pm on Tuesday, the Shram Karyalaya sticker by 4 pm, and the next day I was traveling. I was lucky though that the Shram Karyala folks were still around (apparently I should have arrived before 1 pm). The brokers outside arrange the "insurance" and "doctors report" for you and walk you through the steps. It's probably quickest and simplest to go through them.

The officers will examine your H1b paperwork in rather great detail (and they seem to know what they are looking at).

The board outside Sram Karyalaya says you need a letter from the employer stating that you'll be working no more than 40 hours a week, 6 days a week. Try to get that from your HR person before you leave for Nepal. Easier than trying to insert a line onto your letter.

ALSO: once you have your sticker, make sure you take with you either the receipt or a photocopy of the receipt that you get at Shram Karyalaya. You will be asked for that again at the airport.

At the airport: once you go upstairs from check-in, there is a counter at your left. Go there, and get a stamp on your sticker (and show whatever documents they ask for).

AND THEN you'll be all set to proceed to immigration and your flight.

A bit of a hassle for people on H1B visas... but really not too bad (and you'll be guided along the way)... and hey... you might even get this cosy feeling that the Nepali government is watching out for you as you go toil in foreign lands :P

Is this new rule for H1B visas? One of my friend went to Nepal. He got his VISA stamping from Nepla however. "Shram Karyalaya sticker" never came to the picture..

More info here:
http://sebsonline.org/resources/resources_view.aspx?id=12

Looks like this person paid the NRs3000 "Helper Fee" instead of doing it himself.

About the officials knowing what they are looking at -- that Arnico dai mentions above -- I am not so sure. When I had to get the stamp, they said they needed a letter signed by both the employee and the employer. I told them I only had a letter from the employer that specified the number of hours, pay, etc. One of the guys quickly said, "telle hunna." As I was walking out not sure what to do, it occurred to me that I had my lease with me (now that's an advantage of being in scouts! :)). I went back and asked the guy if what I had worked, without mentioning that it was my apartment lease. The guy looked in the last page as if to make sure if there were two signatures and said "hunchha." If I were to go again, of course I wouldn't take the risk.

I had done my foreign employment authorization from Shram Karyalaya. There is a small old cottage type house right across the street of the Shram Karyalaya where it has small sign saying that they do the Shram work. I just went there and provided the photocopies of all the required papers. They were asking me Rs 500 for the whole process plus the govt fee.You can find other "helpers" outside the office whose asking price range from Rs 3000 to 10000. It was alright, they prepared my insurance papers, doctors report right there in front of me. They carry all the forms, stamps etc. I know it is wrong, but who wants to go through all the hassles. I had to wait like 3 hours to get my work done. Also you need to keep the receipt with you as Arnico has mentioned to show in airport.

I recently came to US from Kathmandu with my H1B visa and I didn't have any kind of Shram Karyalaya stamp. I didn't have any problem at the airport, no one even asked me for it. My friend had the same case. FYI, I have been living in US with H1B status for a while.

.tired!

If I were you, I would get the stamp. Infact I had gotten one when I was in Nepal. It's better to safe than to be sorry. Per Nepal's immigration law, we need to show them the stamp but as u know Nepal ko kanun pashupati le jaanun. Pashupati mood ma aako bela paryo bhane je ni huna sakchha. I hope you know what I mean.

All the best. :-)

Better not to take risk but throw some money, though I dont see any point of doing this all for h1b. I think this rule is under implimentation since last one or two years, But last year when one person I knew well went Nepal. He got H1B stamped and did not have any sticker though I told him he has to go to Shram Karyala..He did not have any trouble at immigration. I dont know if the rule is strict now..Good Luck.

I am going to get the sticker. However, I just don't think it is right or just.

I don't think it is legal or even constitutional for me to have to take a "permission" from the government to go abroad, for work or whatever. It is downright fascist and a gross violation of my human rights. I would even oppose any government steps to keep a "detailed record" of me just cause I am going abroad to work. I know, and everybody knows, that the Nepal government is basically incapable of doing anything for me in a foreign country vis-a-vis employment, regardless of whether I am fired without cause/compensation or if I happen to lose a limb or two (or more!) in the course of my work. I doubt their willingness and/or ability to fight a court battle for me. I don't know if the government promises to "look after me" in a foreign country, but even if it does, we all know it is an empty promise. Remittance sustains the Nepali economy, but bureaucratic hassles like these are a burden on the workers and NOT on the employers or the man-power companies! I just cannot see how the workers are protected by getting a sticker in the back of their passports.

I understand the government wants it's share in the booming remittance sector. But they've got to come up with a better and constitutional way to insert their finger in the pie. The Nepal government does not own me, I am not it's slave. I, along with the rest of the people, own the government. I am going abroad to work, not to kill or maim, and I have not killed or maimed to go abroad either. I have not broken any laws. Just why do I need to ask the government to please let me go work?

Tired, I agree with your sentiment. My comment on the cozy feeling of the government watching over you was in jest. Things will change when we are ready to stand up and put up a fight, rather than do what I did, which was to get the sticker to guarantee that I could depart without hassle the next day (I had to get back to work and could not risk getting stuck).

Even more important than fighting for our right to sticker-less travel to work in the US is the fight to get the government to actually DO something about the thousands of Nepali laborers who face horrible working conditions, especially in the Gulf countries and in Malaysia.

This is a crap rule, and the only people benefiting are the shabby dalals alongside the 'shram-mantralaya' staffs whose palms they grease.

I second Tired's sentiments and hope that the govt focuses on the real issues than fattening another chain of shabby dalals..

Do they require sticker for H4 too?

.Nope! :-)