Hiring of Foreigners in Mozambique - Regulatory Regimes and Practices

The laws and regulations for hiring foreign nationals have been enacted with the aim of protecting the national workforce, ensuring the availability of jobs for them, while limiting employment of foreigners to those positions with levels of technical and professional skills and qualifications which are either nonexistent or insufficient in the country. Historically, the main instrument used by the Mozambican Government to achieve foreign investment promotion balanced with national employment, was the hiring of foreign employees through the quota mechanism, which is still in use at present. In the present context, it is fundamental that the regime of hiring foreign labour allows for certain flexibility but at the same time does not compromise the structural principle of protecting the local labour force. This document is prepared to provide the current regulatory framework for hiring of foreign nationals, as a reference mainly for foreign investors considering employing foreigners in their projects in Mozambique.