The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is urging foreigners with businesses here to employ more Filipino workers so they can avail of a visa that would enable them to stay indefinitely in the Philippines .

 

          BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. issued the appeal after the bureau resumed implementation of the special visa for employment generation (SVEG) which grants indefinite stay to foreigners with investments in business enterprises that employs at least 10 Filipinos.

 

          Holders of the SVEG, also known as job generation visa, also enjoy multiple entry privileges, thus they can enter and leave the country as they wish without the need to secure reentry or exit permits.

 

         David said that the BI is encouraging foreign businessmen to avail of the visa as it would generate employment opportunities for Filipinos.

           The BI announced the resumption of the scheme two weeks ago when it released the revised implementing rules and regulations for the SVEG that were approved by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

 

            The SVEG was first introduced in 2009 pursuant to Executive Order No. 758 but the bureau suspended the program last July pending revision of its rules to make it more responsive and relevant to the purpose of the law.

            

            BI Associate Commissioner Siegfred Mison said the visa is still subject to restrictions imposed by the Constitution and existing laws on foreign investments.

 

            For his part, lawyer Cris Villalobos, who heads the BI-SVEG one-stop facility, said the new rules provide for the outright issuance of an indefinite visa to a qualified foreign applicant, instead of the initial probationary one-year visa provided in the old rules.

 

            Villalobos said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shall certify that the visa applicant employs at least 10 Filipinos whose employment contracts shall also be submitted.

       

           SVEG applications may be filed at the BI main office or any of its field offices in the country. A P10,000 application fee, P1,000 BI clearance fee, P20 legal research fee, and P1,000 express lane fee shall be charged to each applicant.###