The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or Libya is making an effort to improve their country’s image after taking responsibility for the bombing in Lockerbie Scotland back in 1988 and renouncing the development of weapon of mass destruction. This made the United Nations (UN) finally lift the sanction thus attracting foreign workers including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to work in the country.
In OFWGuide Forum, a discussion entitled “LIBYA - the sleeping giant awakes!” started by pinoyxpat, reveals the pleasing working environment in Libya as compared to other Middle East countries.
“Ang pagkaka-alam ng iba sa atin eh napaka gulo sa lugar na ito, hindi naman pala, sa tingin ko eh, ito na ang susunod na sentro ng destinasyon ng maraming pinoy OFW dahil sa malaking pagbabago ng kanilang ekonomiya,” pinoyxpat said. (Others thought that this place (Libya) is a riot but it’s actually not, I think this would be the next hot destination to many OFWs because of its growing economy.)
He also cited reasons why OFWs would be encourage seeking work in Libya.
1. Arab country pero mas maluwang ang pamamalakad. (This is an Arab country but rules are very lenient
2. Pwedeng mag-usap ang babae at lalake. (Opposite sex can talk in public)
3. 100% remittance sa pinas, pero pwede naman ang cash advance. (100% remittance in the Philippines but you can avail of cash advance.)
4. Pwede rin ang malalakas na sounds at hindi nagsasara ang mga tindahan tuwing oras ng dasal (Can play music in a maximum volume and stores do not close when they need to pray.)
5. Hindi naka-abaya ang mga babae. (Women are not required to wear abaya)
6. Maganda pa ang sahod ng OFW at mostly yearly ang bakasyon. (Salary is good and once a year vacation)
7. May available na Catholic Church (There is a Catholic church)
Jobseekers and those who are looking for new and better career opportunities should not miss the career event that is set to be a record breaker. The Philippine Star Career Guide in cooperation with ABS CBN Umagang Kay Ganda and TV Patrol World, will hold a local and overseas job fair on October 26-27 at SM Megamall, Megatrade Hall 1 from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm.
The job fair will benefit thousand of Filipinos in search for a good job as more than 5,000 job opportunities from both local and overseas companies awaits qualified applicants! Participating local companies are IBM Daksh, Teleperformance, Accenture, Aegis People Support, APAC, Monark, Sutherland, Citibank, Philam Life, Banco De Oro, JP Morgan Chase & Company, Home Depot, Convergys, Sykes Asia, Infosys, Telus, Hinduja, West Contact, OCE Business, PLDT, Smooth Moves, Concepcion-Carrier, Smart Communications, Micro Sourcing, Concentrix, TeleTech, Stellar and Rainmaker.
This career event is open to all jobseekers 18 years old and above who is either high school graduate, college undergraduate or graduate. All jobseekers are asked to prepare their most recent and comprehensive bio-data or resume with 2x2 picture attached or scanned.
All jobseekers are also advised to be in a proper attire and refrain themselves from wearing inappropriate clothes and apparel such as shorts, sandos and slippers.
Remember:
What: Lingkod Kapamilya Job Fair
When: October 26-27, 2010, 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Where: SM Megamall, Megatrade Hall 1, Mandaluyong City.
Those who will attend are advised to pre-register: http://workabroad.p/kapamilyajobfair.php
Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Rosalinda Baldoz warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) about illegal recruiters of non-existing jobs in Syria.
Recently, the labor secretary exposed a human trafficking scam in Mississippi in the United States that victimized 23 Filipinos.
According to her, illegal recruiters used the same modus operandi of deceiving prospective job seekers with supposed high paying jobs in the Middle East.
Despite of the continuous campaign and warning against illegal recruiters, DoLE continues to receive reports of workers illegally recruited according to Baldoz.
“Illegal recruiters continue to prey on unsuspecting workers by dishing out promises of fantastic salaries for non-existent jobs,” Baldoz said.
In Damascus, she said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, which only opened in August 2009, has been closely monitoring the entry of Filipinos to the region using Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Kuwait as jump-off points to Syria.
She said it was part of the department’s mandate to monitor OFWs to protect them from abuses and falling prey to white slavery.
She bared that despite the absence of a bilateral agreement with Syria, the POLO has accredited 20 licensed overseas recruitment agencies that are authorized to recruit OFWs for Syria’s emerging oil and gas industry.
Thirty four persons, including three foreign nationals, were charged Tuesday for allegedly defrauding at least 19 jobseekers, mostly nurses, of P300,000 each, in exchange for high-paying jobs in the United Kingdom.
Charged with syndicated and large scale illegal recruitment and estafa in the Makati Prosecutor’s Office were Timothy Malcolm Sargeant, 53, and Karen Denise Wood, 38, both British nationals; Kenyan Paul Maundu Nyamai, 33, and the Filipino staff of the employment agency International Student Advisors 4U Inc. (ISA).
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Anti-Transnational Crime Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group during an entrapment operation in their office at Mavenue Building, Guerrero Street, Makati Avenue, Makati City.
Senior Supt. Gilbert Sosa, chief of the CIDG-ATCD, said several other officials and employees of ISA are still at large, including the owners, Philip Leonard, a British national, and his wife, Bernalyn Nacionales-Leonard.
Also named respondents were officials and employees of Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc.
Sosa said ISA, Faces and Shots Video Editing Inc. and Sir Philip Leonard Learning Center Inc. serve as one-stop shops for illegal recruitment activities of the respondents through a student visa scheme.
Under its Securities and Exchange Commission registration, the agency is only limited to providing advisory and marketing consultancy services for training college and university courses in foreign countries.
However, on their official website, the firm reportedly advertises their capability to bring nurses and health care professionals to the UK on a “Study and Work” program.
Many of the complainants said they applied for on-the-job training offered by the company because it promised big salaries as nurses and caregivers in the UK.
Each was required to pay amounts ranging from P300,000 to P650,000.
A verification with the POEA showed that the respondents and ISA were not authorized to recruit and deploy workers abroad.
I am applying for a new visa application. I completed medicals for my last visa application. Can I use these again?
In some circumstances, you can use previous medicals to demonstrate that you meet the health requirement for a new visa application. This process is known as
“re-use”.
Circumstances in which you can re-use medicals from 9 November 2009 onwards are summarized in the table on the reverse of this sheet. However, your case officer can still ask you to complete new medicals if they consider it appropriate.
What has changed for 9 November 2009?
From 9 November 2009, if you are applying for a permanent visa, you will not* be allowed to re-use health examination reports that you obtained for a temporary visa.
Example 1: If you completed a chest x-ray and a medical examination for your student visa application, you will no longer be able to complete an outstanding HIV test (as required for permanent visas) and have your previous health examination reports ‘upgraded’ (a new chest x-ray (form 160), medical examination (form 26) and an HIV test will be required for your permanent visa application).
Example 2: If you completed a chest x-ray for your subclass 457 visa application, you will no longer be able to complete a medical examination and an HIV test (as required for permanent visas) and have your chest x-ray report ’upgraded’ (a new chest x-ray (form 160), medical examination (form 26) and an HIV test will be required for your permanent visa application).
*There are very limited exceptions in which you may still be able to re-use. Your case officer will advise you if these exceptions apply to you, or whether you need to complete new medicals. If you need to complete new medicals, you can get details on fees and further information at:
In Australia: Medibank Health Solutions See: www.medibankhealth.com.au
Outside Australia: Consult you panel doctor for information. Fees should be similar to those charged locally for a comprehensive examination or report by a qualified medical practitioner.
Why the change in arrangements?
These changes are being put in place to ensure that the processing of your permanent visa applications is not delayed unnecessarily.
The re-use process when an applicant is moving from a temporary to a permanent visa is not straightforward because health examination reports must be re-assessed by a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC). This is because the MOC must take into account the applicant’s proposed indefinite stay in Australia. This re-assessment process was resulting in processing delays and, in some cases, clients still had to complete new medicals.
These arrangements will be reconsidered once the department has further developed its electronic storage facilities for medicals and can provide an efficient ’upgrade’ process for clients.
Where can I get more information?
More information is available by contacting the department.
Phone: 131 881
Website: www.immi.gov.au/contacts/index.htm
When can I “re-use” my medicals?
Same tests required for new application
If your new visa application requires you to complete the same health tests as your previous visa application did, you may be able to re-use your ’health clearance‘ (where the department has made the decision that you have met the health requirement) for your new visa application. However, to be able to re-use your health clearance you must fall into one of the categories in the table below: Type of Visa Applicant:
Example:
A health clearance can be re-used if:
Exceptions – Re-use will not be allowed if:
Temporary visa holder - applying for a new temporary visa, and;
Stay in Australia NOT extended.
Student visa holder applies for a different type of Student visa for the same stay period.
No additional medical tests are required for the new visa application
The original clearance is still valid
Possible deception is discovered by the Department in relation to the client’s previous medicals
The applicant’s health has significantly deteriorated since the original health clearance (not including pregnancy)
If the applicant has not complied with a health undertaking
Temporary visa holder - applying for a new temporary visa, and;
Stay in Australia extended.
Visitor visa holder applies for a Student visa that will extend their intended stay in Australia.
No additional medical tests are required for the new visa application
The original clearance is still valid and was a local clearance***
Temporary visa holder - applying for a permanent visa, and;
‘Permanent medicals’* completed “upfront” for the temporary visa
Subclass 457 visa holder, who completed full permanent medicals for their 457 application, applies for a permanent skilled visa.
The original clearance is still valid
The original clearance was cleared to a permanent standard
Provisional visa holder - applying for a permanent visa, and;
‘Permanent medicals’** completed “upfront” for the provisional visa
Business skills visa holder, at the “second stage” of processing, applies for their permanent visa.
The applicant originally undertook ‘permanent medicals’#
On September 22, 2010, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) met with the US State Department’s Chief of Visa Control and Reporting Division, Charles Oppenheim. This is the division tasked with distributing all immigrant visas available in a fiscal year for family and employment-based green cards. It also publishes the monthly Visa Bulletin which announces visa availability in an upcoming month. The Visa Bulletin is closely monitored by immigrants for progression towards their respective priority dates, or place in line for green cards.
The Visa Control and Reporting Division has been carefully monitoring the demand for visa numbers across the various categories and has seen a big uptick in demand for numbers in some areas, with drops in others. What this means is that where there are upticks, these categories can expect retrogression or very slow progress in visa number availability. In contrast, where demand has decreased, visa number availability should improve with a reduction or elimination of visa retrogression.
Mr. Oppenheim notes that there has been a significant drop in demand for family-based (F) categories. Consequently, there has been significant movement forward in these categories. The F2 category is seeing the strongest jump forward. This includes the unmarried children over 21 of lawful permanent residents (F2B), and the spouses and unmarried children under 21 of lawful permanent residents (F2A). The F2A category is experiencing the most dramatic drop in demand and Oppenheim predicts that by the February 2011 visa bulletin, this category may be current or close to being current.
Previously because of the long wait in the F-2A category, usually over 5 years for most permanent residents, it was faster to apply for US citizenship and then sponsor their wives and children. Spouses and single children under 21 of US citizens are not subject to immigrant visa quotas. Visa numbers are always available for them. So, less people applied for their spouses and children, allowing more visa numbers to become available.
As of the writing of this article, the typical wait time for an F-2A priority date to become current is 6 months. Only 6 moths ago, the wait was approximately 4 years! This is fantastic news for permanent residents who have recently married and need to petition their new spouses, children or step children. The long waits usually meant they had to live apart until the permanent resident spouse became a US citizen. If Oppenheim’s predictions are correct, there may be no backlog as of February 2011. Now more than ever, it makes sense for permanent residents to petition their spouses and children as quickly as possible in order to take advantage of the rapid forward movement for the F2 category.
In contrast, Mr. Oppenheim noted that in the employment-based categories (EB), his division has seen a swelling in demand for numbers. This is based on beneficiaries of employment-based green card sponsorship marrying and having children which reduces the total visa numbers available. Each member of the family will require an employment-based visa number, not just the sponsored worker. For example, if four visa numbers remain for a particular EB visa, and a person is second in line, there is no guarantee that this person will get the green card. If the first person in line has a wife and two children immigrating with him, all four visa numbers will be used by that first person in line. Mr. Oppenheim expects employment-based visa numbers to remain oversubscribed and to move slowly forward. His short-term prediction is that any forward movement of priority dates for the next few months in the EB categories will only be a few weeks at a time.
The news from the AILA meeting has been a mixed bag of good and bad news. Family-based categories will experience shorter waits for priority dates to become current, but employment-based will see increases. Until Congress increases visa numbers or the methodology in which they can be distributed, frustrating backlogs will have to be endured. In prior years, employment-based categories experience the least amount of delay. The pendulum has temporarily swung back to family-based visas. Lawful permanent residents should take advantage of this break while it lasts, because, unlike their immigration status, it will not be permanent.
Author's Note: The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the individual legal research and personalized representation that is essential to every case.
Robert L. Reeves is a licensed California attorney and is certified by the California State Bar as an Immigration and Nationality Law Specialist. He has been specializing in immigration law for over 30 years and is admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, several US District Courts and California State Courts. He is the Managing Partner of Reeves & Associates with offices located in Pasadena, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Makati City – Unit 507 Tower One Ayala Triangle, also known as the Philippine Stock Exchange Plaza Makati , 6767 Ayala Avenue, Makati City, Philippines 1226 (corner Paseo de Roxas, beside Ninoy Aquino Monument). Philippine Contact Numbers: 759-6777 or Toll Free: 1-800-10-773-3837 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com Website: www.rreeves.com
"Happiest Photo in Your Workplace Contest!" Post the happiest picture of you with your officemates/friends in your office/field work/outing (anything related to your work) with a brief description about the photo and WorkAbroad.ph link (http://www.workabroad.ph/list_specific_jobs.php?by_what=date
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The BEST PHOTO with the MOST LIKES will win P500 Mobile Load. 1 entry per participant only. Criteria: Quality: 50% Likes 50%. Submission of entry is until FRIDAY (Oct. 8, 2010)Winner will be announced on the same day.
Being away from family and friends is one of the most if not the most difficult part of being an OFW. Sadly there are times when privilege of earning big salary and the opportunity to work in a foreign environment resulted to broken marriages or estrangement from friends and loves ones.
It is a blessing that advancement in technology made it so much easier and cheaper for people to keep in touch despite the great distance. One fun and costless way that an OFW can stay close with their loved ones in the Philippines is by joining social networking sites. Aside from being updated with what is happening in the Philippines, they can also find new friends and earn tips on how to succeed with their overseas career by connecting with fellow OFWs all over the world.
Manitoba, a province in Canada needs to hire lots of foreign workers such as plumbers, engineers, and carpenters and they prefer Filipino workers. To meet the labor demands of the province, the provincial government of Manitoba recently signed an agreement with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
The said agreement provides the details of the partnership that would result to the recruitment of skilled OFWs to Manitoba. It also contains guidelines to ensure welfare and protection of skilled OFWs. It was signed by Labor Secretary, Rosalinda Baldoz and Manitoba Premier, Greg Selinger at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
According to the official from Manitoba, the agreement was fair to both parties. Selinger said, "For us, it's an equal partnership. Nobody's better than the other."
Baldoz on the other hand informed that since the population of Manitoba is aging and they are currently suffering from low birth rate, the Canadian province is expected to hire an estimate of 20,000 new workers every year by 2016.
The Labor chief said, "In the next thee years, the number of retirements is expected to increase by 30 percent and the need for more workers, including the transfer of work-based knowledge, will be very critical to Manitoba's labor force stability."
She added, "Also, I understand that Manitoba has low birth and unemployment rates and the province looks at annual immigration targets (of) around 20,000 by 2016 to shore up its manpower banks. Current arrivals number only a little half of the yearly target."
Selinger agreed with what Baldoz said. He said, "As Secretary Baldoz said, many of our existing labor forces are five to 10 years away from retirement. (This is) the baby boomer generation. (So) this opens up opportunities all across the board—in the trades like carpentry, plumbing, electricians."
"This also opens up opportunities in the professions—engineers, accountants, medical professionals, nurses and doctors. We believe we'll have opportunities all across the labor spectrum in Manitoba," Selinger added.
According to Selinger, hired skilled OFWs in Manitoba Canada can apply for Canadian citizenship only after six months of working there.
