33,000 new jobs created through employment visa

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) opened a total of 33,000 new jobs for Filipinos to help the job industry cope with the financial crisis that hit the globe.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, the bureau’s legal officer Cris Villalobos said the government also collected fees of more than five million from the foreigners who availed of the newly introduced special visa for employment generation (SVEG).

Villalobos, head of the BI-SVEG one-stop-shop, said that of the 425 foreigners, who were issued the indefinite visas, 271 were principal applicants and 144 were dependents.

“The foreigners have investments, and in some cases, are expatriates employed by 185 businesses operating throughout the country,” he said.

He said the SVEG was launched pursuant to an executive order signed in November 2008 by President Gloria Arroyo to attract foreign investors to the country and at the same time generate job opportunities for Filipinos.

Immigration data showed that most of the special visa holders are based in Metro Manila where 107 aliens availed themselves of the visa, followed by Cebu and Region VII.

Villalobos said the visa entitles the foreign holder to stay indefinitely in the country for as long as his or her investment subsists.

Among who availed themselves of the special visa were 120 Koreans, 41 Chinese, 17 Taiwanese, 16 Americans, 11 Britons, 10 Australians, nine Japanese, nine Indians, seven Malaysians and six Singaporeans.

By region, special visa for employment generation opened almost 20,000 jobs in Metro Manila, 6,862 in Region IV, 1,086 in Region VII and 1,519 in Central Luzon, which housed the Clark Economic Zone and the Subic Bay Economic Zone.

Under the rules, the special visa is issued to a foreigner with an interest in a company or entity that employs at least 10 full-time and regular Filipinos workers either for managerial, executive, professional, technical, skilled or unskilled positions.

A foreigner applying for the visa shall certify that he or she maintains a lawful immigration status in the Philippines; engaged in a viable and sustainable business; exercises managerial acts with authority to employ, promote and dismiss employees; and evinces a genuine intention to indefinitely remain in the country. -JUN MARCOS, Manila Times