No recruitment fees for US, Guam for OFWs

As it continues to receive reports that Filipino applicants paid manpower agencies substantial amounts for placement or recruitment fees, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Guam reminded Filipinos applying for a job in Guam that the United States has a “no recruitment fee” policy for foreign workers.

In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Consul General Bayani Mercado said he met with US State Department Acting Fraud Prevention Manager Clay Allen to discuss joint measures to inform the general public about the US’ no recruitment policy for workers under the H2-B classification bound for the United States and its territories.

During the meeting, Allen, accompanied by Reynaldo Beltran, Consular Investigations Assistant at the US Embassy in Manila, and Douglas Carter of the Consular Security Service, reiterated that his office continues to process applicants bound for Guam who admit that they are paying manpower agencies placement or recruitment fees.

He added that Topline Manpower Services, a Philippine-based manpower agency, continues to operate as a labor recruitment agency despite the US Embassy in Manila’s notification to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Allen expressed his willingness to meet with Philippine Government officials, including the Philippine media, for an information campaign on the US policy and added that his office is looking closely at applications for H2-B workers.

The US Embassy’s Anti-Fraud division has been working closely with the Guam Department of Labor and other federal agencies in Guam to ascertain that workers coming from the Philippines are employed in the jobs they were hired for, and at the salary scales stated in their applications. –Danessa O. Rivera, Daily Tribune