OFW Advisory
2010
UK ends issuance of concessionary
visas to fishermen
The British Embassy in Manila has announced
that the issuance of concessionary visas to
non-European Union crew on-board
fishing vessels operating in UK territorial waters ended
on May 31, 2010. No
further applications will be accepted.
Applicants warned of
travel agencies sending Filipino domestic helpers illegally
to Singapore
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration advises
Filipino women intending to work as domestic helpers in
Singapore to use the legal process of overseas employment
and not rely on the services of travel agency operators who
are moonlighting as employment agents. The Philippine
Overseas Labor Office in Singapore, said 99 per cent of
Filipino domestic helpers who ran away from their employers
were deployed by travel agents and do not have valid
overseas employment documents issued by the POEA.
READ
MORE
Italy does not allow recruitment of seasonal workers in the
Philippines
The POEA
warns overseas job applicants against recruitment agencies
and individuals promising jobs in Italy supposedly as
seasonal workers.
Recruitment
of seasonal workers is allowed
only in countries with special agreements with Italy
excluding the Philippines, and
those already working legally in Italy.
READ MORE
Beware of franchising
scams
OFWs should be wary of the
rampant franchising activities of the following as reported by
the Department of Trade and Industry:
- Fran.con Franchise Marketing and Consultancy, Inc.
- Hamoraon Business Specialist Inc.
- Michelle Ann Pacubas-Chan
Please contact the DTI hotline 731-3330 to verify the legitimacy
of the franchisor.
Do not be fooled by text
scammers
The public is again being warned
about text scams which continue to victimize people, including
overseas Filipino
workers. Text
scammers use fictitious
names
or pose as government officials,
send fraudulent text messages
to their victims saying
that their mobile phone numbers won in a raffle allegedly
sponsored by
the Bangko Sentral
ng Pilipinas or other institutions.
READ
MORE
New UK visa policy for Filipino
fishermen
The United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) has issued a new policy
granting limited concessionary visas to non-European Union
crew, including Filipino fishermen on-board fishing vessels
operating in UK territorial waters.
READ
MORE
2009
POEA extends balik-manggagawa services
The
Balik-manggagawa Processing Center in the POEA main office in Ortigas
shall be open
on December 26, 2009 (Saturday) and December 30, 2009 (Rizal Day) from
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm. in
anticipation of the influx of OFWs after
Christmas Day.
READ MORE
Online registration for EPS and JPEPA applicants
Applicants for EPS-KLT and JPEPA are
required to register online at
http://www.eregister.poea.gov.ph/ereg/ereg.asp. EPS-KLT applicants
can only be allowed to pay for the language test after registration.
Nurses and caregivers should wait for further instruction from POEA.
Returning workers
should process
exit clearance early
Workers-on-leave (balikmanggagawa)
who have just arrived
are encouraged to apply for their OECs early either at the POEA Main
Office or at the nearest POEA Regional Offices and Extension Units, or
avail of the OEC delivery service, so that they can avoid last minute
problems prior to their return flights.
READ MORE
|
The
Balik-Manggagawa
Processing
Center
will operate from 7:00am to 12:00nn only (halfday-morning)
of December 22, 2009 to give way to the POEA Year-end
Assessment in the afternoon. Issuance of OFW Info Sheets
will be cut-off at 11:00am. Regular operations
will resume on December 23, 2009 (Wednesday). Special
processing days will be on December 26, 2009 (Saturday)
and December 30, 2009 (Wednesday, Rizal Day).
|
Saudi requires licensure exam for foreign
nurses
The Saudi Council mandates all foreign
nurses to pass the Saudi Licensing Examinations for Health Specialties before working in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the Philippines, the accredited
testing center are Prometric Testing Center, Ateneo Professional Schools,
130 H. Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati City. Telephone No.:
(632) 892-0383, Website:
http://www.prometric.com and Tread, Inc., Suite 308, Centro Maximo
D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City. Tel no. 032-2535514. The examination is scheduled Tuesday up to
Friday, with a fee of US$90.00. A prometric exam is similar to the
licensure exam for nurses given in the Philippines.
Beware of job offers in Russia
The POEA warns overseas job applicants against promises of employment in
Moscow under the pretext of invitation from the Russian Olympic
Committee but using travel agencies as front for deployment.
Foreigners holding commercial visas in Russia are not allowed to work.
Applicants who want to work in Russia should undergo the legal process
of OFW documentation at the POEA
Unclaimed insurance
benefits for OFWs under EPS-KLT
Who can apply:
OFW returnees under EPS KLT who have not claimed their insurance
benefits (DIRECT CLAIMANTS ONLY, NO FIXERS)
LIST OF
OFWs WITH UNCLAIMED DEPARTURE GUARANTEE INSURANCE
LIST OF OFWs
WITH UNCLAIMED RETURN COST INSURANCE
SAMPLE CLAIM FORM
Where to apply:
HRD-KOREA - Resident Office in Manila
1607 Prestige tower
Emerald Street, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Requirements:
Copy of Passport
Photocopy of Passbook (under the applicant's name)
Bank Swift Code (ask your local bank for their bank swift code)
Macau targets overstaying foreigners
A new immigration regulation penalizes foreigners, including
Filipino tourists, who overstay in Macau, Special Administrative Region
for more than thirty days after their permit expires with a fine of
200MOP (US$26.00) per day. Offenders who commit the same violation
within 180 days will not be able to "legalize" this overstaying by
paying fines and will have to leave Macau immediately. Illegal
immigrants will be deported and prohibited from entering Macau, SAR for
a certain period as indicated in the deportation order.
Filipino tourists with the intention to overstay in Macau for
purposes of looking for job are advised to use the legal cannel for
seeking overseas employment.
Beware of recruitment agencies
with cancelled or suspended licenses
The POEA advises the public to be wary of
recruitment agencies with cancelled or suspended licenses that are still
actively recruiting for overseas jobs.
The POEA, as of September 14, 2009, has cancelled the licenses of 454 recruitment
agencies since the start of its operations and placed 44 others under
preventive suspension. For 2008 and the first eight months of 2009
alone, the POEA cancelled 76 licenses and suspended or fined 57 agencies
as a result of recruitment violations.
Please click
HERE
to verify status of recruitment agencies.
Filipino seafarers with transit visas
not allowed to work in UK
The United Kingdoms Border Agency recently announced that Filipino
seafarers who have been issued transit visas are not allowed to work in
the UK fishing industry.
The UK transit visas are basically temporary visas for non-European
Union seafarers, including Filipinos joining vessels in the UK which are
bound for foreign ports or traveling international waters for a longer
period.
No deployment of Filipino entertainers to Turkey
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration cautions female job
applicants against accepting offers of employment as entertainers in
Turkey.
The POEA is not processing employment documents of overseas
performing artists (OPAs) to Turkey and the Department of Labor and
Employment is not keen on allowing their deployment due to lack of
established protective and monitoring mechanisms.
DOLE Secretary Marianito D. Roque said deployment of OPAs shall be
allowed only in the presence of a bilateral agreement between the
Philippines and Turkey to assure protection of Filipino workers in that
country.
"Nanny hotline" in Toronto
The provincial government of Toronto, Canada has set up a toll-free
hotline for caregivers. The hotline, 1-866-372-3247, is will be used by
caregivers to seek advise on their rights under Ontario's provincial
labor laws, or to report cases of abuse and exploitation.
Online verification for expats in KSA
Expatriates in Saudi Arabia, including OFWs may inquire about their IDs,
iqamas, and visas through the website www.moi.gov.sa, which was recently launched by KSA's Ministry of
Interior.
Authentication of OFW documents
The POEA
reiterates the standard procedure of authenticating documents of OFWs in
the Philippines before it can be used for work overseas. Also, documents
coming from where they are working abroad must be authenticated by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country and by the Philippine
embassy accredited to that country, if they want to use the said
documents anywhere else in the world later on.
Gamca lists diseases that would make
OFWs unfit to work
The Gulf Cooperation Council-(GCC)
Accredited Medical Clinics Association (Gamca) recently released the
list of diseases that would render overseas Filipino workers (OFW) unfit
to work in GCC countries
Under the hiring policies of GCC states Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and
Saudi Arabia foreign workers from the
Philippines and other Asian countries are required to pass the medical
tests conducted only by Gamca clinics.
These include:
Infectious category
HIV/AIDS reactive
Hepatitis B surface antifgen, HCV reactive
Microfilaria positive and malaria blood film positive, known leprosy
patients
Tuberculosis any type, X-ray showing active PTB, past evidence of
PTB or healed Pulmonary scar, including minimum fibrosis,
calcification (granuloma) pleural thickening, pleural effusion,
tuberculosis lymphadenitis
VDRL/TPHA reactive
Non-infectious category
Chronic renal failure
Chronic hepatitis failure
Congestive heart failure
Hypertension
Diabetes mellitus
Known case of cancer
Psychiatric disease and neurological disorders
Physical disabilities, i.e. color blindness, deafness
Student visas for UK? Beware!
The public is advised to be wary of an illegal recruitment practice
luring Filipino students to go to London on a student visa. The
recruiters were Filipinos based in London who promise them work in
nursing homes for twenty (20) hours with pay as part of the curriculum.
The Philippine Embassy in London has reported that 34 Filipino
students have been victimized by these recruiters. Police authorities
raided the school for failure to open the courses offered to the
students.
The students are supposed to be attending the London School of
Health & Management Studies (LSHMS) after payment of 2,500 - 3,500
British Pounds or some US$5,000 US$7,000 for tuition and student visa
fees. The victims also paid additional 150 British Pounds for
transportation expenses upon arrival in the United Kingdom.
Qatar stops issuance of visa
certification
Starting
February 1, 2009, the Embassy of the State of Qatar shall issue Visa
Stickers instead of visa certification to prevent falsification of Qatar
visas. POEA will not issue exit clearance to departing OFWs
without the visa sticker. Visa certifications issued prior to February
1, 2009, however, are still valid.
Registration of applicants for
Japan nurses and caregivers
Interested
applicants for caregivers and nurses for Japan under JPEPA should
register online at
http://www.eregister.poea.gov.ph.
Pre-selected applicants will be notified through e-mail for submission
of required documents. POEA shall only accept documents of applicants
with e-mail notification. The last day of accepting applications
is on January 30, 2009. Nurse applicants may continue to register for
vacancies in other countries like Saudi Arabia. Click
here for recruitment schedule.
OFWs should leave UAE before visa expiry
Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates
(UAE) using tourist visa should leave on or before the expiration of
their visa and return to the Philippines to avoid being stranded
in exit points. OFWs with expired
visas should come home and apply for new visas in the Philippines.
The UAE government issued in July last year a new immigration policy
wherein visitors to UAE must renew their visa in their country of
origin.
