AX gaunle--As far as I understand, yes, you do. I think the idea was for the Nepali labor dept to be able to keep track of nepalis going overseas (mainly the gulf, SE asia) for work (particulary made important after the sept 1 '04 disaster)...i think there's some value to it...even though it doesn't make much pragmatic sense to us working in the West. i wasn't aware of this new requirement, and was stopped before boarding the plane...it was embarassing (well you know why!!) and i felt bad for having not obtained the labor dept's clearance... but then the shift manager listened to my plea and let me+ through... :-) a success story, eh! :-D