Immigration to tighten rules on foreigners seeking work permits

Bureau of Immigration INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced on Wednesday that it would impose more stringent requirements and more rigid procedures from foreign workers seeking work permits.

Commissioner Jaime Morente said they would require foreign applicants to submit additional documents before they could get special or provisional work permits.

Morente said the new rules would seek to address the reported rise in the number of foreigners employed in the country.

“This is to ensure that these work permits are issued only to aliens whose jobs could not be performed by Filipinos,” he said in a statement

“These new rules are meant to protect the interest of local workers, as we have observed that in the past, foreigners may abuse their permits and take away jobs from our kababayans,” he added.

Morente said no work permits would be issued to aliens seeking jobs as construction workers, cashiers, janitors, carpenters, and other blue-collar jobs.

Professions classified as regulated by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) will also be off limits unless approved by the PRC for foreigners.

Only authorized BI officers and alien control officers may approve or disapprove applicants for their working permits, Morente said.

Among the requirements to be required from permit applicants are the validity of stay as tourists; address, existence, nature of business, and financial viability of petitioning company; and SEC and other government licenses to operate. /cbb