The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has made pre-migration training compulsory for first-time job seekers travelling to Japan and Romania, the Daily Mirror reported.
The requirement covers all job categories in both countries. First-time migrants will not be able to obtain Bureau registration without completing the relevant course — making the training a gate on departure rather than an optional service.
What is required
| Japan | Two-day programme, commenced 1 September |
| Romania | Three-day programme, commenced 3 September |
The mandatory requirement itself took effect on 15 September.
Registration can be made at any SLBFE branch, and a training fee is charged. The programmes are conducted at the Pannipitiya Training Centre and the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Emigrant Resource Centre.
Content
The courses brief prospective migrant workers on the destination country’s culture, laws, social customs, religion, currency and workplace practices.
Japan and Romania have both grown as destinations as Sri Lanka pushes outbound labour numbers — the Bureau is targeting 250,000 placements in 2026. Romania in particular draws workers into construction and manufacturing roles within the European Union, where unfamiliarity with local labour law has been a recurring source of disputes.
Job seekers can contact the Bureau’s Industrial and Corporate Training Division on 0112 366 457 or 1989 for further information. The report does not state the level of the training fee.
Update, September 26
NewsFirst has now carried the requirement, confirming the core of the Daily Mirror’s account two days on: the course is compulsory for first-time migrants to both countries, Bureau registration will not be granted without it, and the programmes run two days for Japan and three for Romania.
Its framing is slightly sharper on the mechanism. Where the Daily Mirror described the training as a condition of registration, NewsFirst puts it the other way round — that registration with the Bureau has itself been made mandatory for first-time departures to Japan and Romania, with the course a condition of that registration. Both descriptions produce the same gate on departure.
NewsFirst adds that sign-up for the course can be completed at all SLBFE branch offices, and does not repeat the Daily Mirror’s detail on the commencement dates, the 15 September effective date, the Pannipitiya and Sabaragamuwa training centres, or the contact numbers. Neither outlet states the training fee.
