Taiwan restricting OFW entry

After Japan, Taiwan is now restricting the entry of Filipino workers.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday reported that Taipei has imposed stricter regulations to control the entry of returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

"It’s not a ban but a mild freeze on the hiring of Filipino workers," said a labor official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the labor official, the Taiwanese government opted to impose additional requirements to ensure the identities of Filipino applicants and prevent re-entry of Filipino workers.

"After a three-year contract, foreign workers, including Filipinos, are no longer allowed to return for employment in Taiwan but there are a number of OFWs who were able to return by using spurious documents," the official said.

With the prevalent use of spurious documents, the official said, the government of Taiwan decided to impose additional requirements to help them determine and identify which OFWs had returned or were trying to return to Taiwan.

However, the local recruitment industry expressed apprehension over the imposition of additional requirements, which they said could lead to delays in the issuance of visas and, eventually, a drop in deployment.

"What usually takes a week for authentication now takes at least two months," said a local recruitment official.

If the delay in the issuance of visas cannot be resolved, the local recruitment industry warned of a drop in the deployment of Filipino workers to Taiwan, as well as in the dollar remittances of these OFWs.

There are about 90,000 Filipino workers employed in Taiwan. Majority of these OFWs are factory workers earning some P30,000 a month.

Meanwhile, DOLE reported that close to 7,000 Filipino workers are now awaiting deployment to South Korea after undertaking the required occupational safety and health training.

The Occupational Safety and Health certification is now part of the pre-employment requirement for South Korea-bound workers. The government of South Korea imposed the regulation to ensure safety of foreigners working in small and medium enterprises. South Korea has allocated 10,000 jobs for OFWs. — Mayen Jaymalin