BI tightens work permit rules for foreigners

The Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday said it will tighten rules on issuing permits to foreign nationals working in the Philippines.

The bureau signed joint guidelines on the issuance of work and employment permits to foreigners with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on Labor Day, it said in a statement.

Previous regulations "did not have any restrictions" apart from the duration of a foreigner's stay in the country, a system that was "prone to abuse," the BI said.

Authorities shifted policies amid concerns on the rising number of foreign nationals working in the Philippines, brought about by emerging industries such as online gaming, the BI added.

"Issues and challenges only appear now. This has never been a problem in the past because of the relatively smaller number of foreign nationals working in the Philippines then," Immigration chief Jaime Morente said in the release.

In a separate statement, the DOJ said the new guidelines regulate the issuance of special work permits (SWP), provisional work permits (PWP), and alien employment permits (AEP) and clarifies that the BI may only issue SWPs to foreigners intending to work in the Philippines outside of an employment arrangement in 14 permissible areas of work.

The BI explained that an SWP allows a foreigner with tourist status to work in the country for not more than six months, and does not bind him or her in an employer-employee arrangement. There is a separate working visa, called a 9(g) visa, with contracts usually lasting for one to three years, it said.

Morente said a work permit allows a foreigner extended business activities within the prescribed period, but a visa binds a foreigner as an employee of a company in the Philippines.

Apart from updating work permit rules, the BI said it will require proof of tax payment among foreigners applying for visas and work permits. The DOJ said applicants for work permits are required to get Tax Identification Numbers from the BIR.

But the new guidelines will not compromise ease of doing business, the bureau assured the foreign community.

Last February, the BI said it was tightening its rules on the issuance of work permits to foreigners by requiring additional documents and prohibiting permits to foreigners who will work in the country as construction workers, cashiers, janitors, carpenters, and other blue-collar jobs.

Professionals who work in fields regulated by the Professional Regulation Commission will also not be allowed without the commission's approval, the BI had said.

The BI said it issued 83,760 SWPs in 2018, adding that the DOLE reported it issued 54,241 AEPs, the primary requirement for securing the 9(g) visa. —Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/KG, GMA News