OFWs fear ‘exit only’ stamp on passports by Saudis

By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:53 am | Monday, July 11th, 2011

Overseas Filipino workers based in Saudi Arabia now fear leaving their jobs for short vacations in the Philippines.

The reason: Some OFWs who recently returned to the country had their passports stamped “exit only” by Saudi immigration authorities.

This means they will not be allowed to return to Saudi Arabia and may have to apply for a reentry visa if they want to return to their jobs in the kingdom.

This has worried OFWs planning to go on vacation, particularly during the Christmas break.

OFWs and their recruiters think the new regulation may have something to do with the kingdom’s new labor policy called “nitaqat” that limits the number of migrant workers in private sector firms.

Riyadh-based Migrante-Middle East said it had been receiving reports from OFWs about “exit-only” stamp on their passports when they leave Saudi Arabia, although their company-processed visas were originally issued with “exit/reentry” effectivity.

Alarming

The “exit only” stamping reports have alarmed the OFW community in the kingdom, Migrante-ME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in a statement.

“Because of these incidents, some OFWs have conveyed to me that they will postpone their scheduled yearly vacation for fear of not being allowed reentry by the immigration authorities,” added Monterona.

Emmanuel Geslani, consultant of several Manila-based recruitment agencies, confirmed the stamping reports.

Reluctant to go home

“Our OFWs may now be reluctant to go back to the Philippines because of the ‘exit only’ stamp so they will stay in Saudi Arabia to preserve their jobs,” he said, adding that between 30,000 and 50,000 Filipinos go on vacation in the second semester, particularly during the Christmas holidays.

The Migrante leader said four Filipino engineers called him and other Migrante officers in Riyadh after their exit/reentry visas were stamped ‘exit only’ by Saudi immigration officers.

“The four asked for an explanation, saying that they were only going on vacation for a month and would be back. [But] no explanation was given to them,” Monterona said.

He cited the case of another OFW who, along with his wife and two children, went on vacation late last month but were denied entry by the Saudi immigration authorities upon arrival at a Saudi airport.

“The OFW did not notice that during his departure from Saudi a month ago his exit/reentry visa was stamped ’exit only’, in effect disallowing him reentry into the kingdom. As his wife and kids were under his sponsorship, they too were not allowed to enter,” Monterona said.

He said he also heard of similar incidents from Pakistani migrant workers in the kingdom.

Migrante has relayed the ‘exit’ stamping issue to labor attaché Albert Valenciano, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh.

Valenciano, according to Monterona, was surprised upon hearing the reports and asked Migrante to send an official communication to his office for transmission to Philippine Ambassador-designate Ezzadin Tago.

Geslani and Monterona theorized that the stamping regulation was meant to force companies in Saudi Arabia to let go of their foreign workers and hire locals or Saudi citizens.

“This only shows the seriousness of the Saudi government in implementing the nitaqat,” Monterona said.

No more benefits

He said one effect of having an “exit” only stamp is that the OFW would not be getting his end-of-service benefits and other entitlements from the company since he cannot return to work anymore.

In a press conference on Friday, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Philippine government has not been officially notified of the nitaqat by Saudi authorities.

Baldoz said she had sent a team of labor attachés to the kingdom to ascertain the situation and prepare for contingencies.

She estimated that around 9,000 skilled and semiskilled workers would initially be affected by the nitaqat.