Sharp Decline in Work Visas

Data provided by the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare show arrivals of foreign nationals into Iran for work in the last Iranian year (March 2019-20) decreased by 60.96% compared with the year before. 
A total of 4,809 work visas were granted last year compared with 7,741 in the year ending March 2019. 
Khorasan Razavi topped the list of highest arrivals with 766 while Kurdestan was the only Iranian province that did not receive any foreign national with work permit last year, IRNA reported. 
A total of 5,852 work permits were issued for skilled foreign workers last year, 6,036 permits were extended and 341 permits were renewed.
The ministry cancelled 5,384 work permits last year. A total of 173,339 temporary work permits (which are only valid for three months) were issued and 25,638 were extended. 
The government earned 409,350 million rials ($2.18 million) from issuing work permits and penalizing employers who hired illegal foreigners last year, compared with 260,000 million in the previous year. 
The increase in government revenues is thanks to the rise in tariffs for issuing permits and penalties: penalty for employers hiring illegal foreign workers was five times more than the daily wage of a legal worker. 
The ministry conducted 83,410 inspections last year and identified 36,846 illegal migrants and took court action against 6,465 employers who hired them.