Iran has begun issuing work visas for tens of thousands of Afghan labourers, a move aimed at regulating foreign employment and curbing illegal migration, according to Seyed Malek Hosseini, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Labour.

Speaking to the IRNA news agency on Tuesday, Hosseini said the process started at the beginning of October, and up to 200,000 nine-month work visas will be granted to legal migrant workers in the first year of the programme.

He said the plan seeks to “regulate and monitor the status of foreign labour” while preventing illegal entries into the country. Under the new policy, the visas will initially be valid for nine months and may be renewed based on workers’ performance and employers’ requirements.

Hosseini emphasised that Iranian citizens remain the top priority in the labour market, and foreign workers will be employed only when no domestic applicants are available.

Iran remains one of the main destinations for Afghan migrant workers in the region, with hundreds of thousands employed across sectors such as construction, agriculture, and services — construction being the largest employer.

Over the past year, the Iranian government has deported hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans, saying the expulsions aim to create more jobs for Iranians and ease pressure on public services amid the country’s struggling economy.