Labatt reassures FDHs who need to break their contract

Labatt Jolly Dela Torre

Labor Attache Jalilo Dela Torre allayed the fears of Filipino domestic workers that their visa application might be rejected if they break more than two contracts with employers within a year.

Dela Torre said that Immigration Department (ImmD) officials told the Philippine Consulate General that they deal with visa applications “on an individual basis” and do not automatically reject applications if the helper had broken her contract for the third time.

“Per our discussion, hindi naman daw yun automatic na pag tatlo or apat na beses na nagbreak contract na you’d be automatically denied a visa,” Dela Torre said in an interview.

“They look at (visa applications) on an individual basis or on the merits of the case,” he added.

Dela Torre made the statement after HK Labour and Welfare Secretary Law Chi-kwong said the ImmD rejected 1,817 employment visa applications form FDHs from June 2013 to October 2018.

“The ImmD has all along been processing employment visa applications of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) in a rigorous manner. If the applicant has any adverse records or breaches, ImmD will refuse his/her application,” Law said last month.

“Since June 2013, ImmD has strengthened the assessment of employment visa applications from FDHs who changed employers repeatedly to combat abuse in changing employers through the arrangement for premature contract termination (commonly known as “job-hopping”),” he added.

From June 2013 to November 2015 (a period of 29 months), the Immd rejected 582 visa applications or an average of 21.5 applications denied per month.

But with the new total of 1,817 visa rejected over 64 months, the monthly average has grown to 28.4 applications rejected per month.