Nepal balances immigration enforcement with investment protection in Chinese-funded project

Kathmandu: Chinese nationals on tourist visas found working at a Chinese-funded meat processing plant in Nepal have been told to obtain work permits or leave the country within a set deadline.

However, Chinese nationals found working at the plant in violation of their business visa conditions are being deported, a senior official of Nepal's Department of Immigration said on Saturday.

The decision to allow tourist visa holders time to change the visa type or leave Nepal came after the Chinese Embassy informally requested flexibility, citing the scale of the investment and the genuine nature of the industrial project, according to Immigration officials.

The 88 Chinese nationals who entered Nepal on business visas issued for activities associated with other companies but were found working at the project are being deported after their visas were cancelled and fines were imposed under Nepal's immigration laws.

The Department of Immigration said on September 23 that it had initiated the deportation process for the 88 Chinese nationals for violating the conditions of their business visas. Immigration officials also identified an additional 329 Chinese nationals who had entered Nepal on tourist visas and were working at the same project.

The Chinese nationals were working at Ziyan Foods Private Limited, which is developing the Nepal Heat-Processed Buffalo Meat Export to China Project at Sahan in Marini Rural Municipality of Sindhuli district, in financial partnership with Chengdu Tian Food Limited.

According to officials, the project is among the largest Chinese investments in Nepal and is potentially the country's largest investment project in the agricultural sector, with a promised investment of NPR 20 billion.

"In the case of the Chinese nationals who were working in the project and arrived in Nepal on tourist visas, we have created an environment in which they can obtain labour permits or complete the required procedures and leave within the stipulated period of 20 days to one month," Ram Chandra Tiwari, Director General of the Department of Immigration, said.

"During our inspection, we found that these people were not here to engage in wrongdoing or theft; they were genuinely working," he added.

Another immigration official said the Chinese Embassy had also made an indirect request for flexibility for its nationals working at the meat processing plant despite holding tourist visas.

The Embassy had said that the plant was a genuine enterprise and that the Chinese nationals were working there in accordance with the project's requirements.

"You may take action against other illegal workers as you see fit, but given the scale of this major investment, please show some flexibility," the official said, describing the position conveyed by Chinese Embassy officials.

The official said the immigration authorities had adopted a middle path by proceeding with deportation in cases involving fraud while giving other workers time to regularise their status or leave Nepal.

The 88 Chinese nationals found to have violated their business visa conditions are being deported. They must submit their air tickets and pay the prescribed fines before their deportation can proceed.

"Once they submit their air tickets and pay their fines, they are deported. They have been barred from entering Nepal for three years," the Immigration official said.

Nepal's immigration rules allow business visas to be issued to foreign nationals licensed to invest in commercial or industrial businesses in the country, as well as authorised representatives of such institutions, upon the recommendation of the concerned authorities. Business visas are also available to foreigners who purchase Nepali-produced goods for export.

The Immigration Rules, 1994, require foreign nationals holding business visas to remain in Nepal for the purposes for which their visas were issued. Such visas cannot be used for employment, labour or other unrelated activities.

Following the latest incident involving Chinese nationals violating visa conditions, the department urged all foreign nationals last month to engage only in activities permitted under the purposes and conditions of their visas.

It also asked industries, companies, establishments and employers not to employ foreign nationals without the appropriate visas and necessary approvals.

The department warned that action would be taken under prevailing laws against foreign nationals found engaging in activities that violate immigration or other applicable laws.

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