Get visas on your own, OFWs told

POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac photo from his official Twitter account.

MANILA, Philippines—Overseas job seekers need not hire immigration consultants who charge them exorbitant fees to obtain a working visa, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said.

The POEA issued the rejoinder, particularly to Filipinos looking for jobs in Canada.

“Even without a consultant, your application will be processed if all the required documents are in order,” said POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

Free information about working in or migrating to Canada is available on the website cic.gc.ca/english/index-can.asp, Cacdac said.

The POEA chief, however, issued a warning against a firm looking to hire Filipinos for Canada without the proper permit.

Cacdac said Canadian Provincial Nominee and Immigration Services Inc. (CPNIS), an immigration consultancy, was not authorized by the POEA to recruit Filipino workers.

CPNIS, with address in the Philippines at Unit 2006 Orient Square, Emerald Avenue, Pasig City, last month put out a newspaper ad announcing 5,000 vacancies in Canada for engineers, computer programmers, medical workers and technicians.

“Immigration consultants are required to obtain a license from the POEA before they may engage in recruitment and placement activities, regardless of the visa under which deployment shall be made,” Cacdac said.

CPNIS, represented by a “Dr. Fereidon Alemi and Ashkan Alemi,” has schedules on its website of interviews for applicants in the cities of Pasig, Davao, Cebu, Baguio and Cagayan de Oro this month, the POEA said.

The POEA cited Republic Act No. 8042, as amended by RA 10022, which states that offering overseas employment in the guise of visa assistance without the necessary license or authority from the POEA constitutes illegal recruitment.

The POEA likewise warned prospective overseas Filipino workers about an e-mail invitation to a coaching session for a working visa interview.

In an advisory posted on its official Facebook account, the POEA said the e-mail, which claims to be from “Extendicare Hospitals & Hospices,” was a scam and should be ignored.

“If you received this e-mail inviting you to attend a ‘Working Visa Interview Coaching for the year 2013 on July 20 & 21, 2013,’ Please ignore it. This is a scam!” the POEA said.

The e-mail, which the POEA posted on Facebook, indicated the sender was a “Deborah Bakti” who identified herself as the human resources vice president of Extendicare.

E-mail recipients were told they were chosen for the position of staff nurse in Extendicare hospitals and hospices in Canada.

However, the e-mail said, recipients must first attend a coaching for a working visa interview on July 20 and 21.

The coaching fee was P3,800 and the e-mail recipients were instructed to remit the amount via wire transfer.