Foreign workers may apply for work permits through PH-based employers – DOLE

(FILE) AT HOME IN MANILA Chinese workers walk past posters showing images of home as they begin the day’s work on the China-funded Binondo-Intramuros Bridge in Manila. INQUIRER file photo / JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines — Essential foreign workers planning to work in the Philippines for more than six months can now apply for an Alien Employment Permit (AEP) or a Certificate of Exemption or Exclusion (COE) through their Philippine-based employers, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Sunday.

“Essential foreign workers, through their Philippine-based employers, may now apply for AEP/COE and 9(g) work visas at their concerned DOLE regional offices before entering the country,” Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III said in a statement.

This came upon the issuance of the DOLE Labor Advisory No. 16, series of 2021, or the “Issuance of AEP and COE for Foreign Nationals Intending to Come to the Philippines for Long-term Employment.”

“Under the new guidelines, issuance of the work visa may be done at [the] Philippine Consulate General at the foreign national’s place of origin and will no longer require an entry stamp from the Department of Foreign Affairs,” Bello said.

All documentary submissions for the AEP and COE, however, shall still be based on earlier released guidelines — Joint Memorandum Circular No. 001, series of 2019 and Section 3 of Department Order No. 221, series of 2021 — except for the copy of the valid visa which is required to be submitted within 30 working days upon arrival and the completion of the mandated 14-day quarantine protocol.

According to DOLE, the lead time for the issuance of the AEP is five working days upon the completion of a labor market test or publication in a newspaper of general circulation while three days after receipt of the application for COE.

Once granted, the Philippine-based employer may then proceed with the application of work visas with the Bureau of Immigration or other visa-issuing agencies.

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