On October 2, 2025, Government Agreement Number 178-2025 was published in the Official Gazette. Below is a brief summary of the agreement: The purpose of the regulation is to regulate the granting of work permits, in physical and electronic form, to foreign nationals who apply for work permits to provide their services to an employer in the private sector, as well as to establish the requirements and procedures for processing such permits, without prejudice to other types of migrant workers in other sectors that have specific regulations. Foreign nationals who are legally in the country to work in a dependent relationship must apply for authorization from the Department of Foreign Permits of the General Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, complying with the requirements established in these Regulations. The types of applications for work permit authorizations for foreign nationals are: Employers who wish to hire foreign nationals as employees. Foreign nationals who are married to or in a legal domestic partnership with a Guatemalan national. Foreign nationals who are relatives of a Guatemalan national within the degrees of kinship established by law. Foreign nationals married to or in a legal domestic partnership with a foreign national with migrant worker residence. Applicants for refugee status. Persons recognized under refugee status. Applicants for work permits for family members of diplomatic or consular officials.   Employers wishing to hire foreign nationals as employees must meet the following requirements: Complete the authorized and established form. Prove the employer's status. The person to be hired must be a foreign national. The foreign national to be hired must have permanent and/or temporary residence in Guatemala. The foreign national to be hired must have a job offer from a specific company.   The employer carrying out this procedure must submit the following documents in digital format: Document certifying the employer's status. In the case of the employer's representative, the reason for their registration in the respective registry or registries must be included. Valid passport or Personal Identification Document for Foreign Residents of the foreign national to be hired, as applicable. Proof of pending application issued by the Guatemalan Migration Institute, when the foreign national to be hired has a pending residence application or Certification of Ordinary Migration Status issued by the Guatemalan Migration Institute, for the foreign national to be hired, as applicable. Private document containing the job offer, specifying the main duties to be performed by the foreigner to be hired. Accounting certification issued by a certified accountant, expressly stating the number of national workers and the number of foreign workers occupying excluded positions and the total salaries earned by each, with an indication of the respective percentages in accordance with the wage book or the corresponding payroll, indicating the registration number and date of authorization of the competent administrative agency of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, where applicable.   In the document indicated in section 5 above, the accountant must certify compliance with the percentages established in Article 13 of the Labor Code, using the form established by the Foreigners' Permits Department of the General Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labor. This information must correspond to the last week, fortnight, or month prior to the date of submission of the application, depending on the form of payment of wages established by the entity. When the entity has not yet begun operations, it may be exempted, on a one-time basis, from submitting the certification contained in paragraph 5 of this article, by submitting the following document in digital format: an affidavit issued by the employer, certifying that the entity has not yet begun operations. It also establishes the requirements for: Persons applying for refugee status or persons recognized under refugee status. Persons from diplomatic missions, consular offices, or permanent missions and their family members in Guatemala.   Any person requiring a work permit for foreign nationals may apply electronically through the corresponding electronic system for the issuance of work permits to foreign nationals of the Department of Permits for Foreign Nationals of the General Directorate of Employment of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, where the following steps must be followed: Submission of the application Evaluation of the application Preliminary Payment order Resolution   Work permits for foreign nationals will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the work permit authorization resolution, which may be extended for equal periods. The work permit for persons applying for refugee status shall be valid for a period of six months from the date of issuance of the work permit authorization resolution, which may be extended for equal periods. The deadline for deciding on a work permit application for foreign nationals shall not exceed twenty (20) business days. The fees charged by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare in this regard shall be as follows: For the issuance of work permits to employers who hire foreign nationals in a dependent relationship: Q. 3,000.00 For the extension of the work permit to employers who request authorization to hire foreign nationals in a dependent relationship: Q. 2,000.00   The Government Agreement shall enter into force on October 10, 2025.   For more information, please contact our offices. Mario Salazar                       mario.salazar@gt.Andersen.com Mauro Hernández                mauro.hernandez@gt.Andersen.com Evelyn Guerra                      evelyn.guerra@gt.Andersen.com