61 Saudi-based Pinays with children urged to report to passport dept



Some 61 Filipino women with children who are staying in Saudi Arabia and who underwent DNA testing were urged this week to go to the Passport Department to have their status verified.

The Philippine Embassy said that while the fingerprinting process is needed before exit visas can be issued to them, many of the mothers could no longer be contacted.

“We have done our best to contact them, but their cell phones are either switched off or have been sold onto someone else. They may have found a new employer in this time,” Saudi news site Arab News quoted an embassy spokesman as saying.

He said the mothers must complete the fingerprinting process, which is part of the process for the issuance of exit visas to leave for the Philippines before the November 3 deadline.

Saudi Arabia had given a Nov. 3 deadline for illegal workers to correct their status or leave the Kingdom without penalties. Its original deadline had been in July.

The embassy spokesman said the mothers should complete the verification process and return to the Philippines once they receive their visas, at least for the sake of their children.

He said the children are considered undocumented because they do not have birth certificates.

Arab News cited its sources who said some 2,000 Filipinos have been repatriated from Riyadh and 1,500 from Jeddah so far.

New employers?

Arab News also quoted an official at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh who said many of the undocumented Filipinos, including mothers with children, found new work.

“They want to continue working in the Kingdom. However, they have been coming to us to complain and ask for help because they have problems with their new employers. We tell them that it’s better that they leave their employers and go back to the Philippines,” the official said.

On the other hand, the official said many prospective employers promised Filipinos sponsorship but did not follow through. In some cases, the prospective employers charge them for the cost of transfer.— KBK, GMA News

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