President orders acceleration of migration contract procedures

Currently, several European countries do not have labor migration agreements with Uzbekistan. For this reason, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has instructed to accelerate the signing of the relevant intergovernmental documents, the Presidential Press Service reported.

Today, November 18, President Mirziyoyev was briefed on improving the external labor migration system and organizing migration processes in accordance with international standards.

It was noted that in recent years, thanks to the systematic measures implemented in the country to send citizens abroad for work in an organized manner, the labor market has been diversified, with citizens primarily going abroad for higher-paying jobs. As a result, although the number of citizens working abroad has decreased compared to 2016, the funds they have sent increased from $3.8 billion to $15.8 billion by the end of the first ten months of 2025.

The presentation also highlighted the high demand for skilled specialists in the foreign labor market. Currently, there are orders for 140,000 specialists, but much work remains to train professionals who meet the language and professional qualifications requirements. Additionally, because labor migration services are fragmented, people often face difficulties and inefficiencies in the process.

To achieve this goal, it has been tasked to regulate services in the field and consolidate all processes under a “single window” principle.

A “center for preparing for work abroad” will be established in the Uchtepa district of Tashkent, and a “Unified Migration Services” center will be opened in Termez. In the Yashnobod district of the capital, language schools for German and Japanese will be opened in cooperation with international companies.

“It was noted that in recent years, the flow of migration to European countries has increased fourfold. Strengthening the legal protection of citizens working there is important. At the same time, several European countries do not have labor migration agreements with Uzbekistan. The President has instructed to accelerate the signing of the relevant intergovernmental documents,” the report stated.

Additionally, it is planned to increase the number of migration attachés in foreign countries and the offices of the Labor Migration Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers, as well as to open mobile offices of visa centers in the regions of the country.

The presentation also addressed the issue of digitalizing migration services.

The “Work Abroad” platform currently offers 25 types of services, and since the beginning of this year, 524,000 citizens have used online services. However, not all services have been fully digitized.

The President emphasized the need to further improve service delivery by introducing artificial intelligence technologies into the system. Information was provided on plans to implement biometric identification, real-time monitoring of job vacancies abroad, and remote consultation services for citizens. It was also proposed to establish a situational center at the Migration Agency to provide citizens with prompt assistance around the clock.

The presentation also highlighted a growing number of cases of fraud in illegal migration and consulting services. In this regard, to improve the legal literacy of labor migrants, it was proposed to install interactive migration info kiosks at international airports and to increase fines for consulting organizations operating without a license. The issue of introducing criminal liability for organizing and assisting illegal migration under the Criminal Code was also tasked for study.

The Head of State approved the proposals and gave additional instructions to responsible authorities to make labor migration processes more convenient, safe, and transparent.

It is worth noting that earlier, it was reported that experienced Uzbek drivers could be employed by a company in the United Arab Emirates as taxi drivers.