Monrovia, Liberia – Liberia’s Minister of Labor, Cllr. Cooper Kruah, has announced a major policy change that will triple the cost of work permits for foreign nationals, with immediate effect. The action, which aims to strategically reduce the number of foreign workers who are not essential and increase employment in the country, comes as public concerns and speculation about permit issuance are growing.
On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, Minister Kruah announced to reporters up Capitol Hill that the cost of obtaining a foreign work permit has been raised from US$1,000 to US$3,000. According to him, the main goal of this significant increase is to deter foreign businesses and concessions doing business in Liberia from bringing in foreign workers for jobs that can be satisfactorily filled by eligible Liberians.
To Minister Kruah, the purpose of this policy change is to prevent expatriate workers from needlessly filling jobs that can be performed by competent Liberian citizens. In order to develop local talent and promote indigenous economic growth, he advised every company to actively seek out and hire Liberian citizens for positions that are currently or historically held by foreign workers.
Additionally, the Minister used the occasion to openly confront and disprove widespread accusations of corruption in the Ministry, particularly those that work permits were being given to foreigners illegally. He dismissed these accusations as lies, stressing that those who spread such untrue information are necessarily unaware of the Ministry’s carefully regulated and lawful work permit distribution and issuance processes.
Minister Kruah also criticized recent activities involving a Chinese national that were purportedly carried out by Labour inspector Charles Browne. The Minister stated that Browne’s act was completely out of line with the ethics and procedures of the Ministry.
He emphasized that those individuals are civil citizens, not police enforcement, and that they have no right to arrested or put in people in handcuffs. The Minister maintained that such actions was out of the Ministry’s commitment to human rights and proper protocol because they are completely outside the scope of their official training, directives, and operating standards.
