OFWs warned vs double visa scheme

MANILA, Philippines – Prospective overseas Filipino workers should avoid having double visas so they would not be barred from leaving the country, the Philippine Overseas Employment (POEA) said yesterday.

POEA chief Hans Cacdac said a number of Middle East-bound Filipino workers were prevented from leaving the country after being found to have several visas.

Cacdac said the POEA also issued preventive suspension orders against three recruitment agencies for using the double visa scheme in the deployment of their workers.

“The POEA has initiated… the filing of separate complaints of misrepresentation against Hiro Global Manpower Inc., CAZ International Inc. and Al-Walih International Manpower Services Co.,” he said.

According to Cacdac, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) stopped the recruits of the three agencies for possession of two different visas.

Cacdac said the BI reported that each of the three recruits of Al-Walih International were found to have two employment visas for United Arab Emirates bearing two different occupations.

The workers also admitted that they knew their actual work was household service work and not what was stated in the documents processed by the POEA.

Another OFW was found to have visas for UAE and Jordan.

Cacdac said the CAZ International attempted to deploy six female workers but were also stopped at the airport by the BI since they bore separate UAE visas for salespersons and domestic workers.

The BI also intercepted a recruit of Hiro Global Manpower for having a visa for manicurist and domestic worker.

Cacdac said recruiters appeared to be using the double visa scheme to bypass protective mechanisms set by the government.

The scheme usually results in the abuse and exploitation of household service workers as most of those who took shelter at the Migrant Workers and Filipino Resource Center in Dubai were deployed using two visas, Cacdac said.