Iran Begins Issuing Work Visas for Afghanistani Migrants

DID Press: Iran has begun issuing official work visas for Afghanistani migrants in a new program that authorities say aims to regulate foreign employment and curb illegal labor.

“The program, launched in early Mizan (late November), allows Iranian employers to legally hire Afghanistani workers through the government’s “Foreign Workers Employment System,” announced Iran’s Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.

Under the plan, Afghanistani migrants can receive a nine-month work visa that may be renewed if employers are satisfied and if no Iranian workers are available to fill the job. Officials say as many as 200,000 work visas may be issued during the first year of the program.

Sayed Malek Hussaini, deputy minister for entrepreneurship and employment development, said the move is designed to “organize migrant employment and prevent illegal work.” He emphasized that Iranian citizens will still have hiring priority, but the program opens a legal pathway for foreign labor.

For many Afghanistani migrants, the initiative marks the first opportunity to work legally in Iran, where hundreds of thousands have long been employed informally in construction, agriculture, and service jobs.

Analysts say that if the policy is carried out effectively, it could bring more transparency to Iran’s labor market, reduce undocumented employment, and provide greater job security for Afghanistani workers.

Iran hosts one of the world’s largest populations of Afghanistani migrants and refugees, many of whom fled conflict and economic hardship in Afghanistan.