The real cost of a recruitment fee the government did not approve

A worker who borrows money to pay an unofficial recruitment fee arrives abroad already in debt. The first months of wages go to the lender rather than to the family the job was meant to support, and the worker is far less able to leave a placement that turns out to be different from what was promised.

This is why every payment a candidate makes to our office is against an official receipt and within the Government of Pakistan approved service charges. It is also why we remove sub-agents who charge candidates from our network: an unapproved fee collected two steps away is still an unapproved fee in our file.

For employers, the effect is practical rather than moral. Workers who arrive without debt stay longer, complain less and are far less likely to abscond in the first months. The cost of a remobilisation is always higher than the fee that was avoided.

If you are a candidate and someone asks for money outside a receipted, approved charge, stop and check. The Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment can confirm whether a promoter's licence is valid, and our own licence number is printed on every page of this site.