Bureau of Immigration to foreign traders: Hire more Pinoys, get special visa

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) urged yesterday foreign nationals who operate businesses here to employ more Filipinos and avail of its special visa for employment generation (SVEG), which gives them the privilege to stay indefinitely in the Philippines.

BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. issued the appeal after the bureau recently resumed the implementation of the SVEG, which grants indefinite stay to foreigners with investments in business enterprises that employ at least 10 Filipinos.

Holders of the SVEG, also known as job generation visa, enjoy multiple entry privileges, thus they can enter and leave the country as they wish without the need to secure reentry or exit permits, David said.

The BI has released the revised implementing rules and regulations for the SVEG that were approved by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

The SVEG was established in 2009 pursuant to Executive Order 758 but the bureau suspended the program last July pending revision of its rules to make it more responsive and relevant to the purpose of the law.

BI Associate Commissioner Siegfred Mison said the visa is still subject to restrictions imposed by the Constitution and existing laws on foreign investments.

Cris Villalobos, who heads the BI-SVEG one-stop facility, said the new rules provide for the outright issuance of an indefinite visa to a qualified foreign applicant, instead of the initial probationary one-year visa provided in the old rules.

Villalobos said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shall certify that the visa applicant employs at least 10 Filipinos whose employment contracts shall also be submitted.

SVEG applications may be filed either at the bureau’s main office or any of its field offices. A P10,000 application fee, P3,000 motion for reconsideration fee, P1,000 BI clearance fee, P20 legal research fee, and P1,000 express lane fee shall be charged to each applicant.