Before You Depart
What ILSI checks and prepares before you leave home: your contract, your recruiter, your documents, and what to expect on arrival.
Most problems migrant workers face abroad start with something that went wrong before they even left home — a contract they did not fully understand, a recruiter who charged an illegal fee, or a job that turned out not to match what was promised. ILSI's pre-departure stage exists to catch these problems early.
What ILSI does before you leave
- Contract check. An ILSI officer reviews your job offer and contract in your own language and explains your wage, working hours, accommodation and the length of your contract in plain terms.
- Recruiter verification. We check that your recruitment agent is licensed and in good standing — see our agent verification tool.
- Fee check. We confirm whether any fee you have been asked to pay is lawful for your corridor, and flag it if it is not.
- Document preparation. We help you understand which documents you must keep in your own possession — never hand your passport to anyone as a condition of travel.
- Orientation. A briefing on your destination country's laws, your rights as a worker, local customs, and how to reach ILSI once you land.
What to do now
Bring your job offer, contract and any recruitment paperwork to your nearest ILSI partner office as early as possible — ideally before you sign anything or pay any fee. If you have already paid a fee or signed a contract you are unsure about, bring it anyway; we can still check it.
What not to do
Do not hand over your passport or original certificates to a recruiter as a condition of getting a job. Do not pay a fee you cannot get a receipt for. Do not travel on a verbal promise alone — insist on a written contract.
What ILSI can do
An ILSI officer can explain your contract in your own language, confirm whether your recruiter is licensed using our agent verification tool, and flag any fee, clause, or promise that does not match what is lawful or normal for your corridor. If we find a serious problem — an illegal fee, a fake job, or a contract that cannot be verified — we will tell you plainly before you travel, not after.
Why this stage matters most
Most of the worst outcomes ILSI sees in later casework, described across our Get Help guides, trace back to something that went wrong at this pre-departure stage: a fee that created debt, a verbal promise with nothing in writing, or a recruiter who was never properly licensed. A thorough pre-departure check does not guarantee a problem-free job, but it removes the most preventable risks before they can compound abroad.