A foreign citizen can be employed in Uzbekistan only if there he or she has an individual work permit (the Individual Work Permit). The resident legal entity which employs a foreign citizen must in its turn acquire a permit for importation of foreign labor (the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor). Starting from January 1, 2021, Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. UP-6044 of 24.08.2020 cancels the permit for importation of foreign labor (Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor), while maintaining the procedure for obtaining an Individual Work Permit.

The main regulatory acts governing importation of foreign labor to Uzbekistan are:

Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 07.11.2018 #PP-4008 “On measures for providing facilities for labor activity in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan of qualified foreign specialists”;
Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers #244 dated 25.03.2019 “On approval of the Regulation on the order of attraction of foreign labor force in the Republic of Uzbekistan”; and

1.2.The competent organ

The organ to which the filing in the course of importation of foreign labor must be made is the Agency for External Labor Migration of the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan (the Agency or Agency on Foreign Labor Migration).

The Agency on Foreign Labor Migration issues and renews the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor and also grants the Individual Work Permit to foreign individuals in the territory of Uzbekistan.

For obtaining permits it is required to apply for:

the Center of state services; or
the Unified Portal of State Services (my.gov.uz); or
the specialized online platform (not created yet).

1.3. Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor

Prior to employment of foreign citizens Uzbek legal entity must obtain the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor. At the same time each foreign citizen employed in Uzbekistan must obtain his or her Individual Work Permit. Both documents must be issued by the Agency on Foreign Labor Migration.

1.3.1.Documents for obtaining the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor

To obtain the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor, the employer shall submit through the Center of state services or the Unified Portal of State Services (my.gov.uz) the following documents:

application;
a copy of passport of the individual employer or the CEO of the employer.

The digital signature shall be attached to the application and affixed documents. In case of absence of the digital signature, the latter may be obtained in the Center of state services.

The fee for consideration of the application is equal to 1 MMW (US$25).

1.3.2.Documents for prolongation of the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor

To prolongate the term of Corporate Permit, the employer or his representative must submit the following documents:

application on prologation of the Corporate Permit with the digital signature of the Employer attached thereto; and
a copy of passport of the individual employer or the CEO of the employer.

For prolongation of the term of the Corporate Permit the employer shall apply for 20 working days prior to the expiration of the validity term of the Corporate Permit.

1.3.3.Decision-making period

The decision on issuance of the Corporate Permit for Recruiting Foreign Labor is made within 15 working days.

The permit is valid for the term of one (1) year.

The Corporate Permit shall be issued to the employer by the Center of state services or by the Agency through the Unified Portal of State Services (my.gov.uz) depending on the type of application of the employer (e-form or written request).

1.3.4.Amount of the fee for issuance of the Corporate Permit

The employer within 5 working days upon notification on issuance of the Corporate Permit shall effect payment for issuance thereof in the amount of 50 MMW.

1.4. Individual Work Permit

On the basis of the permission to attract and use foreign labor in Uzbekistan, employers enter into a preliminary employment contract with a foreign citizen residing abroad for a specific vacancy to which they want to attract or use a foreign employee as a specialist.

The employment contract must be executed by both parties, after which the employer or his authorized representative through (using) the Center of state services or the Unified Portal of State Services (my.gov.uz) files to the Agency an application for issuance of the Individual Work Permit for the appropriate foreign specialist. The application must be accompanied with the following documents:

application form for a foreign specialist (with the digital signature of the employer, attached thereto);
draft labor agreement confirming a preliminary agreement with the employer on the intentions and conditions for attracting a foreign worker to the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan with specifying the amount of the salary of the employee;
the obligation of the head of employer-organization, certified by its digital signature;
1 (3×4) photo;
a copy of the national passport of a foreign employee (with the validity of the entry visa);
the certificate on HIV-absence, issued by the medical state institution of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
documents confirming the availability of relevant education, qualifications or a specialty from foreign workers (in case of attraction of highly qualified or qualified foreign employees);
a copy of passport of the individual employer or the CEO of the employer (in case of attraction of highly qualified of qualified foreign employees).

The fee for consideration of the application for Individual Work Permit is 1 MMW (US$25).

It is important to note the list of persons for whom the procedure for obtaining a permit for the right to work in Uzbekistan does not apply, or its force extension is being cut off:

from December 1, 2018, for foreign citizens who have invested in the Republic of Uzbekistan in the amount of at least 8,500 times the basic calculation value established in the Republic of Uzbekistan at the time of making investments, in the form of acquiring shares and shares of economic companies, as well as creating a foreign enterprise;
employees of permanent missions of foreign States, representatives of international intergovernmental organizations and governmental organizations of foreign States accredited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as other persons with diplomatic status;
for specialists employed in the field of tourism at the request of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Development of Tourism, for a period of up to three months;
for the founders of foreign and joint ventures operating or being established in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including the first directors (from the date of conclusion of employment contracts with them for the relevant positions), for a period of up to three months;
for scientists and cultural workers engaged in labor activity on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan in organizations established in accordance with interstate agreements;
for students undergoing practical training during the holidays in the framework of programs of educational institutions of higher education of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
for press representatives accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
for workers in non-profit organizations, as well as branches and representative offices of international and foreign non-governmental (NGO) nonprofit organizations, accredited in the Ministry of justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
for teachers and specialists employed in Presidential schools in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and the city of Tashkent, as well as in higher educational institutions;
for persons who have received a residence permit in the Republic of Uzbekistan;
for persons for whom the international treaties of the Republic of Uzbekistan define a different order of employment.

1.4.1.Visa of the cadidate for the Individual Work Permit

If at a time of filing application to the Agency on Foreign Labor for the individual work permit, a foreign worker is located in Uzbekistan, the documents are accepted if the foreign worker has one of the following types of visa:

work visa “E”,
business visa “B-1” or “B-2” or a
work visa “S-3”.

Foreign the specialists staying in Uzbekistan with an expired visa or without registering with the Department of Internal Affairs for more than 3 days, excluding weekends and holidays, or entering Uzbekistan on a tourist visitor visa, the permit will not be issued.

1.4.2.The decision-making period

The term of consideration of this category of requests should not exceed 15 working days.

1.4.3.The amount of fee for issuance of the Individual Work Permit

The Employer within 5 working days upon notification on issuance of the Individual Work Permit shall effect payment for the Individual Work Permit in the following amounts:

for highly qualified specialists and specialists engaged for work in President schools and higher education institutions – 1 BCA (US$23.50);
for qualified specialists – 2 BCA (2 x 23.50 = US$47);
for countrymen – 2 BCA (2 x 23.50 = US$47);
for other foreign citizens – 30 BCA (30 x 23.50= US$705) .

1.4.4.Employment of highly qualified and qualified foreign employees

Highly qualified employees are the foreign employees who meet the following requirements:

graduated from the higher education institutions holding top 1000 positions in the ranking of the internationally recognized organizations (Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking, Times Higher Education, Academic Ranking of World Universities);
having work experience of at least 5 years in the stated specialty or the specialty specified in the diploma;
the terms for attraction for employment in the Republic of Uzbekistan include the salary in the amount of at least US$60,000 per year.

Qualified employees are the foreign employees who meet the following requirements:

having a higher education;
having work experience of at least 5 years in the stated specialty or the specialty specified in the diploma;
the terms for attraction for employment in the Republic of Uzbekistan include the salary in the amount of at least US$30,000 per year.

Pursuant to the Resolution of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan # PP-4008 dated 07.11.2018 from December 01, 2018:

for employment of highly qualified and qualified foreign employees only the Individual Work Permit is required (the the Corporate Permit is not required);
for issuance (prolongation) of the Individual Work Permit the fee is charged in the amount of 1 MMW (for highly qualified specialists) and 2 MMW (for qualified specialists);
prolongation of the term of the work visa issued to highly qualified or qualified specialists shall be performed without necessity for departure from the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the duration of the employment or civil contract, but not more than 3 years in each case;
the residence permit may granted to highly qualified employees and their family members for the term of employment or civil contract at their requests;
upon an early termination of contract the highly qualified and qualified specialists are entitled within 30 working days. Within the above period early issued the Individual Permit, visa and residence permit remain valid.

1.4.4.1. Taxation of incomes of foreign highly qualified specialists

From January 1, 2019, incomes of highly qualified specialists are subjects to personal income tax in the amount of 50% of its established rate (the rate of the personal income tax in 2019 is 12%).

In the event of early termination of the employment or civil contract for reasons related to the employee’s guilty actions, the amount of tax unpaid due to tax benefits shall be fully paid to the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

2. Local labor

2.1. Worker’s council or trade union

Labor legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan provides, that interests of employees can be represented by labor unions or other elective employees’ organs. Election of the employees’ representative organs are performed by general meeting of the employees (conference).

Establishing corporate trade-union organization is not compulsory.

In accordance with Article 35 of the Labor Code of Uzbekistan, the right to make a decision on the need to conclude a collective agreement with the employer is vested in the trade union represented by its authorized body, another representative body authorized by the workers, or directly the general meeting (conference) of the labor collective.

2.2. Workers’ collective agreement

In accordance with Article 31 of the Labor Code, any party has the right to initiate negotiations on the conclusion and amendment of workers’ collective agreement. In accordance with the first part of Article 177 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, an employer is obliged to conclude a collective agreement. However if workers didn’t initiate conclusion of the workers’ collective agreement, the employer is not obliged to conclude it.

At the same time, Labor organs of Uzbekistan consider that the conclusion of a collective agreement is desirable for both the employer and the workforce, as it allows settling a number of issues that are not reflected in the legislation. But again there is no obligation to conclude it.

Despite the fact that the workers’ collective agreements depend on the characteristics of labor, socio-economic and professional relations of specific organizations, it is based on the principles established by law. These principles are the following:

compliance with the law;
due authority of parties representatives;
equality of the parties;
freedom of choice and discussion of issues constituting the content of collective agreements and agreements;
voluntary commitment;
the reality of ensuring the commitments made;
systematic control;
inevitability of responsibility.

2.3. Internal labor regulations

The Employer must elaborate:

Staffing list;
Internal Labor Regulation; and
certain other corporate documents.

2.4. Individual employment contracts

2.4.1.Language of labor contract

Labor agreement shall be executed in Uzbek, and in case a majority of the employees do not comprehend Uzbek it shall be made in two languages: in Uzbek and in another appropriate language (including English).

Important note: compulsion of an employee to sign employment contract in a language that he (she) does not comprehend can be considered a violation of labor rights of the employee.

Similar requirements apply to all notifications and addendums to the labor agreement.

2.4.2.Temporary labor contracts

There are general limitations on the temporary labor contracts.

According to Article 75 of the Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan labor agreements may be concluded:

For unlimited term;
For a fixed term not exceeding 5 years;
For the term for fulfillment of a certain work.

Labor agreement concluded for a term of fulfillment of certain work is a fixed-term labor contract. Article 76 of the Labor Code provides that fixed-term labor contracts may only be concluded if unlimited labor contracts cannot be concluded due to presence of circumstances prescribed by Article 76 of the Labor Code.

The legislation determines such circumstances including but not limited to:

Nature of the prospective work;
Conditions of performance of the work;
Interests of employee;
Other cases provided for by the legislation.

2.4.3.Hiring of Uzbek employees by representative office of foreign companies accredited in Uzbekistan

Performance of labor duties by Uzbek employees of the Representative office is regulated by Uzbek legislation. Uzbek legislation sets forth a number of requirements towards official registration of labor relations.

When putting an Uzbek employee officially on the staff, the Parent company is obliged to perform the following actions:

to check if the Uzbek employee has all necessary documents (see below);
to sign a labor contract with each Uzbek employee and store the executed labor contracts in the Representative office;
to collect from each Uzbek employee his/her labor (service record) books or a certificate from the main place of work if the employee is hired for a part time position. Every Uzbek employee must present his/her Labor Book to the Representative office. If Uzbek employee is hired for the first time the Representative office must issue him Labor Book;
to issue to each Uzbek employee corporate order on the hire;
to inform each Uzbek employee on the terms of labor, risks of professional or other diseases, privileges and compensations, and means of individual protection;
to inform each Uzbek employee on the internal labor rules and regulation of hiring of employees and to collect their signatures confirming the fact of acquaintance.

2.4.4.The list of documents which are necessary for employment

In the course of employment process the employee shall provide the following documents:

Passport or the substituting document;
Employment record book (except for the employees who are hired for the first time);
Military ID (for persons who are bound to military service);
Diploma on graduation from higher or secondary specialized educational institution;
Taxpayer Identification number;
individual accumulative retirement account.

Foreign Labour in Uzbekistan

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