Hiring foreign workers in Mozambique: quotas, work authorisations and the four regimes of Decree 88/2024

Step one: measure the quota

The Labour Law classifies employers by headcount and attaches a quota of foreign workers to each class (Law 13/2023, arts. 25 and 34; Decree 88/2024, art. 10). The headcount is the average of the current calendar year; in the first year of activity it is the number on the day activity started.

• The quota is computed on the Mozambican employer’s own staff, not on the group, and no rounding is allowed (Decree 88/2024, art. 9 no. 4).
• A micro employer may nevertheless hire one foreign national even with fewer than ten national employees (art. 9 no. 5).
• The nominal staff list filed with the labour authority is the evidence of the headcount; keep it current.

The four regimes, file by file

Quota regime: prior notification (arts. 9 to 12)

Within the quota the employer does not ask for permission; it notifies. The notification is filed in the province where the foreigner will work, on the official form, stating the degree of quota use, with: two copies of the form; two copies of the employment contract; the qualifications certificate with the equivalence certificate issued by the competent entity for qualifications obtained abroad, or a certificate of acquired competences recognised in the country of origin; the employer’s tax clearance certificate; a copy of the passport or residence identification; and proof of payment of a fee of five minimum wages of the employer’s sector (art. 11 no. 1). The tax clearance certificate is filed on the first hire and is valid for one year (no. 2), and the admission certificate also depends on the labour authority confirming electronically that the employer has no social security debt and has quota available (no. 3). Non-conformity is flagged at submission and conformity is confirmed within five working days (art. 12). A notification is rejected when it does not fit the quota regime or is used to avoid the work authorisation regime (art. 12 no. 2).

Work authorisation regime: application (arts. 5 to 8)

Beyond the quota the employer applies to the Minister of Labour or the delegated entity. Admission is allowed only when no Mozambican citizens have the required qualifications or their number is insufficient (art. 5 no. 2). The application is filed in the province where the person will work and must be decided within 15 working days of receipt (art. 6). It contains the employer’s identification and activity, its representative, the foreigner’s identification, category and tasks, and the reasons for the request, with two copies of the contract, the qualifications and equivalence certificates, the employer’s tax clearance certificate, the opinion of the union delegate, works committee or sector union, a copy of the passport, a copy of the licence and proof of payment of a fee of ten minimum wages of the sector (art. 7 no. 2). The authorisation also depends on confirmation that the employer has no social security debt (art. 7 no. 4). For specialised assistance, such as foreign NGOs, scientific research, teaching, medicine, nursing and civil aviation, the decision is taken after hearing the sector authority and the file includes that authority’s opinion (art. 8).

Approved investment projects (arts. 13 to 16)

Where the government’s approval of an investment project fixes a percentage of foreign workers above or below the quota, the employer hires within that number by prior notification filed as in the quota regime (arts. 13 and 14), attaching a copy of the project, the authorisation or the government certificate stating the authorised number of foreign and national staff (art. 15); conformity is checked as under art. 12 (art. 16). Special regimes, such as the Area 1 and Area 4 LNG projects under Decree-Law 2/2014, are preserved.

Short-term work: up to 120 days (arts. 17 to 19)

Short-term work is work that does not exceed 120 days per calendar year, consecutive or not, including by foreigners who remain employed by the company or its representations abroad (art. 17). Before the person enters the country the employer sends the provincial labour authority a notification in duplicate with the employer’s identification, the worker’s identification and function, and the start and end dates, attaching the reasons, the worker’s identification document, a copy of the licence and proof of payment of one minimum wage of the sector (art. 18). Conformity is confirmed within five working days; the notification is rejected when the work does not fit the short-term regime (art. 19). Short-term work is not cumulative with the quota and authorisation regimes.

The contract: two years, defined clauses, five-day exit notice

• The contract is dated and signed by both parties and states the parties, the category and tasks, the place of work, the duration, the remuneration and payment terms, and the start and end dates (art. 20 no. 1). Changes are notified to the provincial labour authority with an addendum (art. 20 no. 2).
• Maximum duration two years, renewable by a new application; it never converts into an open-ended contract, whatever the number of renewals (art. 21).
• On termination for any reason the employer notifies the labour authority and the provincial migration service in writing within five days (art. 23).
• A transfer of the worker is notified to the labour authority of the province of hiring; a permanent transfer requires an addendum to the contract (art. 32).

Penalties and the headcount trap

The regulation separates the processing fees, measured in sector minimum wages, from the sanctions. Breaches of the rules on hiring foreign labour are punished with suspension and a fine of five to ten monthly salaries earned by the foreign worker concerned (art. 35 no. 1), doubled on repetition within a year (no. 3). An employer that declares the hiring of nationals to widen the quota and then does not hire them is suspended and fined on the same basis (no. 4), and that suspension is lifted only after nationals are actually hired and a fine of five sector minimum wages is paid (no. 6). The quota is also a live ratio: an employer that ends contracts of Mozambican workers must end contracts of foreign workers in the number needed to respect the quota (no. 5). Every restructuring that reduces national staff has to be checked against the foreign headcount before it is announced.

Fees in 2026, in meticais

Fees are expressed in minimum wages of the employer’s sector, so the same file costs different amounts in different industries. With the minimum wages in force from 1 April 2026:

The full sector table and the 2026 adjustment are in Minimum wages 2026 by sector. Fees are per file; renewals are new files. Petroleum and mining employers must first identify their applicable regime (Decree 63/2011 or Decree-Law 2/2014) before using these amounts.

Checklist before filing

1. Current nominal staff list and the average headcount of the year; classify the employer and compute the quota without rounding.
2. Sector minimum wage confirmed; fee calculated and paid; receipt attached.
3. Contract with the clauses of art. 20, in Portuguese, signed by both parties, two copies.
4. Qualifications authenticated for use in Mozambique (consular legalisation where applicable), translated into Portuguese, with the equivalence certificate requested early; for an authorisation, the union opinion (art. 7 no. 2 d)).
5. Employer’s tax clearance certificate valid on the date of filing, no outstanding INSS contributions (checked electronically by the labour authority), and a copy of the licence where the regime lists it.
6. Filing in the province where the person will actually work; a file lodged elsewhere may have to be redirected or re-lodged.