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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Work visas of 459 foreigners petitioned by 'fake companies' cancelled in November 2023 -- BI

Work visas of 459 foreigners petitioned by 'fake companies' cancelled in November 2023 -- BI

Published Jan 17, 2024 02:56 am

The work visas of 459 foreigners were cancelled in November 2023 with the discovery that their applications were petitioned by fake companies, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

“Last November, we recommended to the SOJ (Secretary of Justice Jesus Crispin C. Remulla) the cancellation of the visas of these aliens, as well as the issuance of show cause orders against those who were involved in the applications,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said. 

"We also recommended the issuance of show cause orders against four BI lawyers and the abolition of the bureau's Legal Division’s visa task force,” he said. 

The petitions by fake companies for work visas were discovered after the BI conducted an audit of its Verification and Compliance Division (VCD) which revealed that these foreigners have been using fake companies in their applications for 9(g) visa, a  requisite for foreigners to work in the Philippines, Tansingco said.

“During our initial investigation, at least 40 travel agencies and liaison officers are suspected of being involved in the scheme, and we reported to the SOJ a total of 116 employers found to be fake,” he disclosed. 

He expressed suspicion that the initial findings submitted by the VCD is just the tip of the iceberg as he expected more visa cancellations and blacklistings once the investigation has been concluded.

“As such, we have reorganized the visa-issuance procedures, palit lahat (change all) top to bottom, including the procedures in accepting, reviewing, assessing, up until the issuing of the visas,” he stressed. 

“Tingin namin baka abutin ng one thousand or more ang mga (we think there could be a thousand or more) foreigners who were petitioned by these fake companies,"  he disclosed.

Meanwhile, Tansingco said he also created a fact-finding group to dig deeper into the reported implication of four BI lawyers and had the bureau release an advisory last December suspending the acceptance of applications of companies as single proprietorships.

He also said the decision to suspend the applications of companies with single proprietorships was made in consultation with Remulla.

He said he had met Remulla last Monday, Jan. 15, for an update on the investigation.

 

 

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