Philippines to require working visa from foreign workers

MANILA, Philippines — Foreigners intending to work in the country will soon be required to secure a working visa prior to employment, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported yesterday.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government is imposing the new working visa requirement on foreign workers in an effort to curb the rising number of foreign nationals illegally working in the country.

“We agreed that before an alien can come in, they should already get a working visa from his place of origin,” Bello said in an interview.        

With the new requirement, Bello said, no foreign national can enter the country and work here illegally.

“Now, anybody can come here as a tourist and then apply for a special working permit. We will already prohibit that,” Bello pointed out.

The labor chief noted that it is the first time that the government will be requiring foreign nationals intending to work here to secure a working visa.

Bello said foreigners should secure the necessary working visa from the Philippine consulate or the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) before they can come to the country.

“We need to be certain that the work they will do here cannot be done by a Filipino. This way, we can already control the entry of foreign workers,” Bello said, explaining why foreigners must secure the working visa in their country of origin.

Bello said the adoption of the working visa requirement was agreed upon in a recent meeting of labor officials with representatives of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Finance and Bureau of Internal Revenue.

According to Bello, the joint memorandum imposing the working visa requirement on foreign workers is expected to be out within the month. 

Part of the memorandum, Bello said, is the list of occupations open for foreign workers.

Bello stressed that foreigners who will work here for a long period would have to apply for alien employment permit from the DOLE aside from the working visa.

Foreigners who will work here for a short period or less than six months would still need to apply for a special working permit from the BI on top of the working visa.