Migration Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan

In response to questions raised in the mass media regarding the service fee for citizens sent to work in the Republic of Korea through organized recruitment, its legal basis, and certain internal documents of the Migration Agency, we wish to state the following.

First of all, the service fee charged by the Migration Agency is established in accordance with the requirements of the applicable legislation. In particular, Presidential Decree No. PF–162 of 17 October 2024 defines the sources of funding for the Agency and the areas in which these funds may be used. Furthermore, the Regulation on the Procedure for the Organised Deployment of Citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Employment Abroad, approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 252 of 22 April 2025, provides that the cost of services rendered by sending organisations shall be determined independently.

The service fee established for citizens travelling to the Republic of Korea under the organised recruitment system has been calculated on the basis of these legal provisions and economic assessments. The calculation takes into account the Agency's annual operating costs, organisational expenses related to service delivery, as well as the proportion of employment-related expenses relative to a citizen's annual income in the destination country. In certain new labour markets, no service fee is charged under pilot projects, and the tariffs are regularly reviewed based on updated economic calculations.

At the same time, the service fee covers not only the employment placement process but also supports the uninterrupted operation of the system providing legal, social, medical, and organisational assistance to citizens who encounter difficult situations abroad. This includes engaging lawyers to protect the rights of citizens, providing financial assistance to those in hardship, covering medical expenses, arranging the return of citizens and their children to Uzbekistan when necessary, and covering the costs associated with repatriating the remains of deceased citizens. Although these expenses are financed through the Migration Fund, the relevant structural divisions of the Agency operate continuously to receive and process appeals, monitor each case until its resolution, and coordinate with competent foreign authorities, diplomatic missions, medical institutions, transport organisations, and other partner entities.

In addition, in order to ease the initial expenses of citizens related to their work in Korea, the Migration Fund will reimburse 2 BCAs (824,000 soums) for air tickets and 65 US dollars (790,000 soums) for visa processing expenses. Thus, each citizen will be compensated for expenses totaling 1,614,000 soums.

It should also be noted that Order No. 106 of 24 July 2025, which has been discussed on social media, was marked "For Official Use" in accordance with departmental regulations governing internal document management. However, the service categories, tariffs, and procedures for their application contained in the Order do not constitute restricted information by their nature. Since the document was formally issued as a single document bearing this classification, the section concerning tariffs was not published separately on open information resources.

The issue is currently under review. Specifically, the part of the Order containing restricted information is being separated from the publicly disclosable information, and measures are being taken to publish tariff-related information on the official website of the Migration Agency and other official information resources. In this process, the proposals submitted by Botirjan Shermuhammad, a member of the Public Council under the Migration Agency, regarding broader, more open, and transparent publication of information on orders and tariffs have also been taken into account.

The Migration Agency strictly adheres to the principles of legality, openness, and transparency in all its activities and considers the provision of objective, reliable, and legally substantiated information on issues of public interest to be one of its highest priorities.