The Ministry of Labour yesterday announced that, effective Thursday, employers of foreign workers and foreign workers themselves will be able to apply for working permits online.
Under a new sub-decree, the ministry will launch the “Foreign Workers Centralised Management System”, which will also help track the number of foreign workers in the country.
“It is an easy way to track foreign workers in Cambodia, and foreign workers can apply via this online system, making it easier for them,” Minister Ith Samheng said in the sub-decree, signed on August 17.
The website will be up beginning Thursday. The sub-decree goes on to say that investors, companies, factories and enterprises that employ foreigners must apply online, as well as foreign workers themselves.
The ministry will use E-Solution (Cambodia) Co Ltd to manage the online system, track data, produce the work permits and mail them. The company will charge $30 per worker.
According to an August 19 report from the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, a total of 5,468 foreigners were fined for not having a work permit from May 2014 to June 2016, collecting a total of about 2.7 billion riel (more than $650,000).
But in 2015, there was an increase of foreigners with work permits, going up to 36,000 from only 4,000 in 2014.
Uk Hai Sela, head of investigations at the immigration department, said five Chinese workers were fined $125 apiece on Monday in Phnom Penh for not having a permit.
Additional reporting by Yesenia Amaro
