VisaBrunei foreign workers need medical certification for new and renewed employment passes
Current health-screening resources distinguish worker registration from clinic accreditation and leave some overseas approval dates requiring confirmation.
Official source date: 2026-10-30
Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Medical clearance applies to renewals as well as new arrivals
Foreign employees and their employers in Brunei should include medical certification in employment-pass preparation even when the worker is already in the country. The Ministry of Health’s Foreign Worker Health Screening service covers both new workers and renewals and identifies its fitness certificate as a requirement for employment-pass issuance. This is a current administrative guide, not a newly announced screening requirement or a claim that every worker’s tests have changed in October.
The ministry says new workers must undergo a comprehensive examination in their home country or permanent-residence country before arrival, including communicable-disease blood tests and a chest X-ray. Employers should confirm the appropriate recognised facility before arranging that examination. A medical report supports the immigration process; it is not itself a visa, a work pass or a decision that the person may begin employment.
Check the overseas facility’s current approval
The ministry links an Approved Overseas Healthcare Facilities directory marked updated on 22 June 2026. It lists facilities by country and city with approval numbers and validity periods. However, some displayed periods end several years before the directory’s update date. Applicants should therefore not treat the cover’s recent date as proof that every listed clinic currently holds an unexpired approval.
The useful next step is to identify the proposed clinic and ask the ministry’s Occupational Health Division to confirm that its approval is accepted for the intended examination. Supply the facility name and approval reference in the enquiry, using the contact on the screening service page. This matters particularly where a recruiter recommends a clinic from an older list. The directory alone does not establish that an expired date has automatically been renewed.
Use the worker form rather than the facility application
The Foreign Worker Health Screening registration form provides separate selections for a new arrival and a contract renewal. It asks for the worker’s name as shown in the passport, date of birth, passport number, nationality, applicable identity-card number, Bru-HIMS number, occupation and contact details. The employer section asks for the company or employer’s name, address and telephone details.
The same service page also has an item simply labelled Application Form. That document is an eleven-page application for accreditation of an overseas healthcare facility, not the individual worker’s medical-registration form. A worker should use the specifically named FWHS Registration Form and confirm any separate Bru-HIMS registration requirement with the screening centre. Selecting the correct document prevents an employer from preparing a clinic-accreditation file when the immediate task is registering one employee for screening.
Coordinate appointments with the immigration sequence
The government’s QueUP resource describes booking, viewing and cancelling appointments for foreign-worker health screening, as well as separate visa and employee-pass services. It says a confirmed appointment produces a barcode in the app. Use that government resource to locate the official appointment channel and retain the confirmation, while checking the selected service and centre rather than assuming one appointment covers both health and immigration work.
BusinessBN’s Employing Workers guidance places a local medical examination after visa issuance and arrival, followed by the employment-pass process and identity-card application. It gives an indicative one-to-two-week medical stage. That is a planning estimate, not a guaranteed result or a universal appointment deadline. A pre-departure report should consequently not be assumed to eliminate every post-arrival step. Employers should confirm the required sequence before fixing a first working day.
Keep insurance, screening costs and permit validity distinct
The Brunei Economic Development Board’s October 2025 insurance-policy briefing described implementation in phases beginning on 1 July 2025 and 1 January 2026. That historical notice provides context for a separate insurance obligation; it does not establish today’s complete coverage terms, premiums or exemptions for every pass. Ask Immigration and the relevant insurer which policy evidence applies to the worker’s actual category, rather than treating medical fitness certification as insurance cover.
The reviewed screening page does not publish a universal current examination price, report-validity period or renewal filing deadline. Confirm those points with the screening centre and immigration authority before the current pass expires. The practical file should identify the right worker form, a currently accepted overseas facility where needed, the local screening appointment and the medical certificate required for pass issuance. Any individual clinical findings remain for the authorised medical service to assess.
