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Immigration chief orders tight screening of foreigners applying for working visas

11/21/2007

Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Marcelino Libanan has ordered a tight screening of foreigners applying for working visas following reports of fraudulent alien employment permits (AEPs) being submitted by some applicants.

Libanan directed the BI one-stop shop processing center for working visas headed by BI associate commissioner Roy Almoro to thoroughly examine AEPs submitted by working visa applicants to ensure that these have been duly processed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).

Libanan warned visa applicants against submitting fake AEPs from the DoLE as a requirement for the issuance of a pre-arranged employment visa by the BI.

Libanan issued the order after Almoro informed him about the cases of some foreigners whose applications for employment visas were denied for submitting fake or tampered AEPs.

However, Almoro said most of the applicants claimed they did not know about the fake AEPs as they entrusted the processing of the permits to “fixers” and travel agents who manufactured the fake documents and instead pocketed the fees intended for DoLE.

As an offshoot of Libanan’s directive, Almoro issued an order requiring all working visa applicants to present the official receipts issued to them by DoLE as proof that their AEPs are genuine.

Almoro also ordered the bureau’s hearing officers not to honor mere photocopies of AEPs submitted by applicants as these can easily be forged or tampered to make it appear that the permits are genuine.

Almoro further instructed his staff to review all working visa applications that have been approved and implemented to check if the AEPs submitted by the applicants are genuine.

“Any applicant found to have submitted a fake AEP shall be automatically canceled and the alien concerned shall be ordered to leave the country or face arrest and deportation for being an illegally staying alien,” he said.

The BI formed the one-stop shop processing center for working visas last year in line with the agency’s thrust to attract foreign investors and spur the development of the country’s economy. Conrado Ching