Filipino workers in Jordan advised to legalize stay

Overseas Filipino Workers waiting for their luggage at the carousel - image" globalbalita.com

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are illegally staying in Jordan were asked by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to avail of the 60-day amnesty to be able to correct their status in the host country.

Based on the report Labor Attache Florenda Herrera to Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, Filipino workers who have lost their work visas, residency permits, and whose status are irregular, including those who are overstaying may avail of the program.

“I urge all OFWs whose stay in Jordan are irregular to heed the Jordan government’s offer of amnesty and legalize their stay. This is for your own good,” she said in a statement.

Baldoz also urge irregular OFWs in Jordan to take advantage of this opportunity by visiting the Labor Directorates of the Ministry of Labor in their places of stay “where they can fix their documents and correct their status.”

On the other hand, Herrera noted that the amnesty, which was approved by the Jordan Ministry of Labor, covers all foreign workers in the Kingdom, who had not left the country, but have received payments for their Social Security, i.e., their reimbursements of their contribution as a result of termination of employment.

Likewise, it includes first-time workers regardless of how they entered Jordan. The exception is restricted nationalities who must apply to the Ministry of Labor.

Also covered are migrant workers who entered Jordan with expired recruitment contracts, and did not complete the process of obtaining valid work permits; migrant workers who will transfer from one industry sector to another, such as a household service worker transferring to a semi-skilled occupation; and workers who have been sentenced with deportation, but has not been carried out at the start of the amnesty.

“As to the transferees, the exception are workers who transfer to the agriculture sector and those who transfer from the so-called Qualifying Industrial Zone to any other industry sector,” Herrera explained.

At the same time, she added that based on the provisions of the amnesty, Jordan will stop receiving requests for recruitment of all nationalities, except from workers for Qualifying Industrial Zones and domestic workers.

The Kingdom, however, will continue to process the adoption of the licensed professions, taking into consideration the agreed ratio of Jordanian workers against foreign workers.

As of the first quarter of 2014, the estimated number of Filipinos in Jordan is 29,515, of whom 16,519 are regular while 12,996 are irregular.

OFWs there are mostly domestic workers (17,429); professionals (3,505); semi-skilled (3,891); and other workers (3,120).

Filipino professionals are mostly hired as nurses, engineers, and IT consultants, while the highly-skilled are working as machine operators, heavy equipment mechanics, and welders.

The semi-skilled ones are mostly hotel workers and wellness and hospitality workers. - PNA - The Manila Times