Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait have announced an amnesty period for all illegal foreign workers there. According to DFA, 1,234 (833 from Kuwait, 301 from Saudi Arabia, 100 from UAE and all from Dubai) Filipinos have thus far availed of the amnesty program and have been repatriated to Manila.

The Philippine embassies and consulates in the three countries assist and facilitate the repatriation of Filipinos. DFA Secretary Romulo said, “I encourage them to avail fully of the government’s reintegration and skills training program so they may take advantage of the new job opportunities in the country.”

Under the proposed immigration bill in Saipan, all foreign workers who have been working and living legally in Saipan for at least 5 consecutive years could be granted a permanent residency visa.

Applicants need to undergo criminal and terrorism background check, medical examination, and must prove that he/she is of good moral standing-OFWGuide

Effective January 1, 2008, United Kingdom (UK) will start implementing its new immigration policies for all foreign workers. Edgardo Espiritu, Philippine Ambassador to London, announced this information. One of the proposed changes presented to the UK Parliament last March is that all visa applicants in UK will now be required to have a sponsor.

Under the new system, applicants for a UK visa will be classified into five levels and will be subject to a points-based system. This new rule will cover all foreign workers except the highly skilled. –OFWGuide

OFWs bound to Saudi Arabia are now obligated to submit their old passports to be granted a visa. This is a new requirement from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. For those without old passports, a certificate from the Department of Foreign Affairs stating that that the passport issued to them is their first must be submitted.

This new rule covers all visa applicants except for household service workers like domestic helper, family driver, houseboy, babysitter, family dressmaker, family cook, and private nurse.

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Philippines is located at:

389 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue Extension, Makati City
Telephone Number.890-9735
Fax Number: 895-3493 (Embassy), 890-9315 (Ambassador’s Office)

A new immigration bill is currently in the US Senate for ratification. The skill based legislation is aimed to address the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. There are 3 million Filipinos in the US including TNT’s.

The new legistion will be skilled based. It would require job skills, advanced degrees, and proficiency in the English language to ensure that English remains the predominant language in the U.S.

Other key points for this bill are:

1. Insure entry to spouses and below-age 18 children of U.S. citizens; 
2. Limit the number of petitions of parents from 90,000 to 40,000 a year;  
3. Make it almost impossible for green card holders (permanent residents) and citizens to petition their adult children, as well as their brothers and sisters.