Taiwan Freeze on Hiring OFWs
25th October 2006
By Maria Theresa S. Samante (OFW Guide)Â Â
The government of Taiwan allows foreign workers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), to be employed for a maximum of three years. But numerous OFWs were able to return using false documents.
Taipei, due to rampant use of fake document has restricted the entry of OFWs and imposed stricter regulations to control the entry of returning OFWs according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE). Added to that, the Taiwanese government opted additional requirements to ensure the identities of OFWs and prevent re-entry of Filipino workers who have finished their three years contract.
According to a labor official, Taiwan do not ban hiring of OFWs instead it is just a mild freeze so they can control the entry of returning OFWs in the country.
The local recruitment industry is worried that these additional requirements for OFWs bound for Taiwan can cause delay in the issuance of visas and may also be the reason of fall in deployment in Taiwan.
What usually takes a week for authentication now takes at least two months,� said a local recruitment official.
The local recruitment industry also said that if the delay in the issuance of visas cannot be resolved, this will causes the fall in the deployment of OFWs in Taiwan as well as the dollar remittances.
About 90,000 OFWs are working in Taiwan and majority of them work as factory workers who earns about P30,000 a month.