Special visa proposed for foreigners hiring at least 100 OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - A group of Philippine recruitment agencies is urging the government to issue multiple-entry visas to foreigners employing at least 100 Filipinos as a way of getting more overseas job opportunities.

The Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (Fame) said the proposed scheme could give the Philippines the edge in cornering 200,000 job opportunities in Dubai alone.

Fame Executive Director Lito Soriano the proposal is an improvement of the current Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG), which is for foreigners employing at least 10 Filipinos in the Philippines. [See related article here].

The new proposal targets foreigners with at least 100 full-time and regular Filipino employees overseas.

Soriano said the expanded SVEG could edge out manpower source countries like India and China and make the Philippines a more attractive source of overseas labor.

Soriano told GMANews.TV that a top hospital in the Middle East postponed employment interviews scheduled in Manila this month as two of their open-heart specialists were denied entry visas by the Philippine government.

The two were Egyptian and Moroccan nationals and have to be cleared first by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Soriano said.

“While the government is inviting foreigners to hire Filipinos, its current visa policies contradict their actions," he said.

Following consultations with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Philippine labor officials, top Middle East firms went on a "recruitment spree" and has reportedly secured more than 200,000 jobs for Filipinos.

Immigration chief Marcelino Libanan vouched his support for the expanded SVEG, saying that it will bolster the Bureau of Immigration’s role in luring more foreign investments and stimulate jobs creation.

Libanan called for a consultation between the manpower sector and the Labor department as well as other stakeholders to draft the proposal to the Office of the President. - GMANews.TV

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