The Membership Programme
How ILSI membership works as one continuous programme covering pre-departure preparation, employment abroad, and reintegration on return.
ILSI membership is designed around a single idea: a migrant worker should not have to find a new organisation to trust every time their situation changes. One membership, one case history, one point of contact — from the decision to migrate through to reinvesting earnings back home.
Three stages, one membership
The programme is organised around the three stages of the migration journey:
- Before departure — contract checks, recruitment verification and orientation.
- During employment — a helpline, legal casework and welfare support while working abroad.
- Return and reintegration — support turning savings and skills into a stable life back home.
Choosing a tier
ILSI offers three membership tiers — Shield, Shield Plus and Shield Complete — so a worker or family can choose the level of cover that fits their needs and budget. Compare tiers on our membership tiers page and see exactly what is and is not covered in our coverage table.
Joining
Membership is arranged through a registered ILSI partner office in your corridor, normally as part of pre-departure preparation. Follow the five-step process to join, and always verify any agent who asks you to pay a membership or recruitment fee before you pay them anything.
Why one membership, not three services
It would be simpler for ILSI to offer three separate, unconnected services — a pre-departure check, a helpline subscription, and a reintegration programme — and let workers choose which to buy. We deliberately do not do this. Problems in labour migration rarely respect these boundaries: a recruitment fee paid before departure can turn into a debt bondage risk during employment, and an unresolved wage dispute abroad can shape how much a worker has to reinvest on return. Treating the journey as one continuous membership lets ILSI see, and respond to, these connections instead of losing them at the boundary between services.
Who the programme is for
The core membership programme is built for the individual migrant worker, but its benefits extend to their household — see family resources — and its evidence feeds directly into ILSI's work with governments and employers on the same corridors.