Philippines: Foreigner hiring 10 locals to get permanent visa
17/11/2008 17:19
Foreign businessmen who hire more than 10 Filipinos are now allowed to
stay in the Philippines indefinitely, according to a new government order aimed
to boost domestic employment in global economic slowdown.
Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today signed into law Executive Order (EO)
758, which will provide legal ground and mechanism for the Special Visa on
Employment Generation (SVEG). At least 100,000 jobs are expected to be generated
in the wake of enactment of EO 758, immigration officials told local
media.
The special visa will be granted to a "qualified, non-immigrant
foreigner who shall actually employ at least 10 Filipinos in a lawful,
sustainable enterprise, trade, or industry," according to the new rule. The
businessman's spouse and dependents or unmarried children below 18 years old are
also entitled to the indefinite residing right, it said.
Local media reports
said the number of unemployed Filipinos had reached 2.9 million by April this
year. Amid the global financial turmoil, at least 50,000 Filipino workers in the
United States and other countries are feared to lose their jobs and return home,
where the economy is seriously affected but still under control, analysts
say.
Xinhua
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