7,500 Pinoys in N. Marianas to lose jobs over new visa rule

MANILA, Philippines - At least 7,500 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Northern Marianas stand to lose their jobs and may be deported due to a new visa rule by the US Department of Homeland Security, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Binay, presidential adviser on OFW concerns, wrote to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz last week to ask her to appeal to US Ambassador Harry Thomas to postpone the implementation of the Commonwealth-Only Worker (CW) classification visa ruling to allow the OFWs to have “more time to seek gainful and legal employment status.”

“A final ruling of the US Department of Homeland Security on Sept. 7 states that foreign workers in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands must find an employer who will petition them for… CW visa. Failing to do so, our OFWs can stay only until Nov. 27, or face deportation,” Binay told Baldoz.

Binay said the latest reports from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) state that there are approximately 7,500 OFWs in Northern Marianas, of which 3,500 have no legal work or residency status.

He also told Baldoz that 950 caregivers working in Northern Marianas households are now supposed to “find employment in formal business entities.”