Every legitimate overseas recruiter can be found in a government record. Before you pay anyone, look them up there, not on their own website. Below is where to look, country by country.
Look the agency up in your government's own list, using the link for your country below. If you cannot find it, stop.
In several destination countries the labour ministry can show you the contract or offer it holds. It must match what you were promised: role, pay, duration.
Save the complaint line for your destination before you fly, while you are still able to choose not to go.
Eight source countries. For each: the official body, what it does, and how to check a recruiter against it.
Ministry of External Affairs: Protector General of Emigrants (eMigrate)
Anyone recruiting Indian citizens for jobs abroad must be registered with the Protector General of Emigrants under the Emigration Act, 1983.
How to check: Search the recruiting agent on the eMigrate portal ("List of active RA") before you pay anything. The MEA states the list is updated daily.
Open the official list ↗ Official site ↗ Our guide for India →
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW)
The DMW licenses and regulates private recruitment agencies that deploy Filipino workers overseas.
How to check: Look the agency up in the DMW list of licensed recruitment agencies, and check that its licence is not cancelled or suspended.
Open the official list ↗ Official site ↗ Our guide for Philippines →
Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET)
BMET licenses recruiting agencies and clears Bangladeshi workers for overseas employment.
How to check: Search the agency by name or licence (RL) number on the Overseas Employment Platform and confirm the licence is active and in date.
Open the official list ↗ Official site ↗ Our guide for Bangladesh →
Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE)
DoFE licenses foreign-employment agencies and issues the labour permit every Nepali worker needs before leaving for paid work abroad.
How to check: Confirm the agency holds a current DoFE licence, and that the labour permit names the employer, destination and agency you were promised.
Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE)
SLBFE licenses foreign employment agencies, registers migrant workers and takes their complaints.
How to check: Look the agency up in the SLBFE licensed-agency directory. If something is wrong, SLBFE takes complaints online and by phone.
SLBFE hotline 1989 or +94 11 2 880 500
Open the official list ↗ Official site ↗ Our guide for Sri Lanka →
Ministry of Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection (KP2MI, formerly BP2MI)
KP2MI oversees the licensed placement companies (P3MI) that send Indonesian migrant workers abroad.
How to check: Search the company under "Daftar P3MI" on SISKOP2MI and confirm it is listed as active. A company that is not on the list is not licensed.
Open the official list ↗ Official site ↗ Our guide for Indonesia →
Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE), Overseas Employment Unit
MoICE registers and oversees Bhutanese Overseas Employment Agents, and publishes the agents it has terminated or suspended.
How to check: Check the agent against the MoICE overseas-employment-agents page, which names agents that are no longer active, or ask the Overseas Unit directly.
overseas@moice.gov.bt
No central recruiter-licensing body
Brazil does not run a central emigration-clearance or recruiter-licensing body of the kind India, the Philippines or Bangladesh do, so there is no government list to check an overseas recruiter against.
How to check: Rely on the destination side instead: confirm the employer and the contract with the destination country's labour authority (below), and never pay for a job you cannot verify there.
Use these to check a job offer or contract, and to know who to call if something goes wrong once you are there. Every entry links to the official site, and that site, not this page, is the authority.
Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE)
Check your job offer and contract on MOHRE before you travel, and file a labour complaint free of charge if your rights are breached.
Labour claims line 80084
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), through the Qiwa platform
Employment contracts are approved or rejected by the worker on Qiwa, so a contract you never saw on Qiwa is a warning sign. Labour violations can be reported there or by phone.
Toll-free helpline 19911 (English, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali)
Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA)
The ministry runs the labour complaints service and the contract and work-permit services.
Labour helpline 16008
Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA)
The authority that issues work permits for foreign workers in Bahrain.
Call centre 17506055, used by the LMRA to receive reports of labour violations (from an LMRA press release, read 8 October 2026)
Ministry of Labour
The ministry that oversees private-sector employment and work permits in Oman.
Call centre 80077000, shown on the ministry homepage; labour complaints are filed through its online service (read 8 October 2026)
Public Authority for Manpower (PAM)
PAM issues work permits, regulates the recruitment of expatriate workers in the private sector and regulates transfers between employers.
Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM), Ministry of Human Resources
Private employment agencies must hold a licence under the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981, and JTKSM publishes the list of licensed agencies. Check the agency there before you pay.
Employment Permit System (EPS), Ministry of Employment and Labor
The EPS portal walks a foreign worker through the employment procedure (language test, job application, labour contract, training, entry to Korea) and publishes their legal rights and obligations.
Ministry of Employment and Labor customer centre 1350 (paid call, weekdays 09:00 to 18:00, shown on the EPS site, read 8 October 2026)
Immigration Services Agency of Japan (a bureau of the Ministry of Justice)
The agency site has a dedicated section on the Specified Skilled Worker system under residence procedures. Check a programme or an offer against it before you pay.
Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor
The agency manages foreign workers in Taiwan and runs the free 1955 consultation and complaint hotline.
Free 24-hour hotline 1955 (Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino)
Department of Employment, Ministry of Labour
Foreign workers register and apply for work permits through the e-WorkPermit system, and the department runs a call centre for migrant workers.
Migrant-worker call centre 1694 (English, Burmese, Cambodian)
Ministry of Labour and Social Security
A foreigner needs a work permit issued by the ministry before starting work, and working without one is subject to criminal and administrative action. The ministry runs an information and counselling line for work-permit questions.
Information line ALO 170
Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations (Employment Division)
The ministry publishes a List of Licensed Private Recruitment Agencies on its site. Check the name of the recruiter against the current edition before you pay anything.
Complaint Desk 86 003
Public Service Development Agency (residence permits) and the labour ministry where labour immigrants register
A work residence permit is issued to a labour immigrant registered with the ministry responsible for labour, and the employer must meet an annual-turnover requirement per foreign worker. Check the current conditions on the agency page.
Migration and Citizenship Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs
The service handles residence status for foreigners and entry visas. Before you travel, confirm with it and with your employer which work authorisation applies to your job.
State Migration Service
A foreigner can work only after the employer has obtained a work permit for them. Concluding a labour contract with a foreigner without a work permit is prohibited.
Work-permit hotline (refusals and complaints) (012) 919
Ministry of Internal Affairs (citizenship and migration), with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection
Foreign labour migration is governed by Law No. 225-Z of 30 December 2010. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in agreement with the Ministry of Labour, sets the permit for employing foreign workers.
Ministry of Labour and Social Protection
The ministry site describes a Labor Code rule that a migrant worker produces their authorisation documents (work permit, patent or residence document) before signing a work contract, and that the contract records them.
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA)
MOLISA is the ministry responsible for labour. Read the work-permit rules on the Vietnam Government Portal before you accept an offer.
Dirección Nacional de Migraciones
Temporary residence as a migrant worker is for foreign people who enter to do lawful paid work under an employment relationship. The procedure is personal and needs no intermediary, and starts online through RaDEX.
Labour secretariat advice line (labour complaints): 0800 666 4100
Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG)
Temporary residence for paid work needs a dependent relationship with an employer or a formal job offer from a Chilean person or company, and the application is made from outside Chile through the SERMIG digital portal.
Dirección del Trabajo (labour complaints): 600 450 4000
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería) and Migración Colombia
A type M work visa covers only the position, entity and activity it was issued for. A first-time applicant applies at a Colombian consulate abroad.
Migración Colombia free line 01 8000 51 55 15
Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones
A foreigner needs a worker migration status, resident or temporary, from Migraciones. The agency tells foreigners they can change status without using intermediaries.
Ministry of Labour and Labour Development (MITRADEL)
MITRADEL issues work permits to foreigners. Executive Decree No. 6 of 13 April 2023 regulates labour migration and its permit types.
Dirección Nacional de Migración, Ministry of the Interior
Uruguay issues no separate document called a work permit: legal residence is what allows a foreign person to work. Residence applications go through this office.
Labour ministry (MTSS) call centre 0800 7171
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility
A temporary-residence work visa is applied for only through the e-VISAS platform, and needs a certificate of contract registration from the labour ministry.
Immigration Department (Departament d'Immigració), Ministry of Justice and Interior
The department runs the immigration service. The Govern lists authorisations that allow a person to work and live in Andorra, including a temporary immigration authorisation.
Department of Employment (Direction du Travail)
The Employment Office records applications for authorisation to hire staff and issues work permits. The department checks compliance with Act 629 of 17 July 1957 on recruitment and dismissal.
Office for Labour and Active Policies, Labour and Cooperation Department
The office mediates between labour supply and demand and checks that labour law is applied. Ask it, and the employer, which permits apply to your job.
Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department of Citizenship, Asylum and Migration
The department decides residence permits for employment. A work permit is an official document issued to a foreign citizen, and is not issued to people staying on a tourist permit.
You should never have to trust us on our word. Before you pay any fee, ask your specialist for the record that proves the employer and contract are real, and check it against the authority above. We will not ask you to pay before your profile is complete, and the refund rules are written down in full.
Last checked 29 September 2026. Links go to official government sites we do not control; lists, numbers and rules change, so treat each site as the authority, not this page. EMIGRATLY is not affiliated with any of these bodies.
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