Alien Employment Permit

Section 40 of Presidential Decree No. 442, otherwise known as the Labor Code of the Philippines,
provides that foreign nationals seeking employment in the Philippines shall obtain an employment
permit from the Department of Labor and Employment (“DOLE”):

“ARTICLE 40. Employment Permit of Non-resident Aliens. — Any alien seeking

admission to the Philippines for employment purposes and any domestic or foreign
employer who desires to engage an alien for employment in the Philippines shall
obtain an employment permit from the Department of Labor.”

The permit being secured by foreign nationals from the DOLE is referred to as an Alien Employment
Permit (“AEP”). All applications for AEP shall be filed and processed at the DOLE Regional Office having
jurisdiction over the intended place of work.

The AEP shall be valid only for the position and the company for which it was issued, and for a period
of one (1) year unless the employment contract provides otherwise, which shall not however exceed
three (3) years (DOLE Department Order No. 186 series of 2017). Thus, a change of position or
employer shall require an application for a new AEP.

The application for AEP shall thereafter be published in a newspaper of general circulation and posted
in the DOLE website for a period of thirty (30) days for purposes of soliciting information from the
general public whether there are grounds to deny the issuance of an AEP.

In the event that a foreign national is employed without having secured an AEP, both the foreign
national and employer shall be liable for a fine of Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) each.

Pre-Arranged Employee Visa

Commonwealth Act 136, otherwise known as “The Philippine Immigration Act of 1940”, provides that
Any foreign national who will be employed in the Philippines and occupying a technical, executive,
managerial or highly confidential position in a company shall secure a visa from the Bureau of
Immigration:

“Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines,

who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following
categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants.
xxx

(g) An alien coming to prearranged employment, for whom the issuance

of a visa has been authorized in accordance with section twenty of this Act, and his
wife, and his unmarried children under twenty-one years of age, if accompanying him
or if following to join him within a period of six months from the date of his admission
into the Philippines as a nonimmigrant under this paragraph.”

It is to be noted however that, as provided by Section 20 of the Philippine Immigration Act, that the
petition for a working visa shall be filed by the prospective employer of the foreign national:

“Section 20. In case of prearranged employment — (a) A passport visa for

a nonimmigrant referred to in section nine (g) of this Act who is coming to
prearranged employment shall not be issued by a consular officer until the consular
 officer shall have received authorization for the issuance of the visa. Such
authorization shall be given only on petition filed with the Commissioner of
Immigration establishing that no person can be found in the Philippines willing and
competent to perform the labor or service for which the nonimmigrant is desired and
that the nonimmigrant's admission would be beneficial to the public interest. The
petition shall be made under oath, in the form and manner prescribed by regulations,
by the prospective employer or his representative. The petition shall state fully the
nature of the labor or service for which the nonimmigrant is desired, the probable
length of time for which he is to be engaged, the wages and other compensation
which he is to receive, the reasons why a person in the Philippines cannot be engaged
to perform the labor or service for which the nonimmigrant is desired and why the
nonimmigrant's admission would be beneficial to the public interest. The petition
shall be accompanied by a certified copy of any written contract or agreement
entered into for the immigrant's service and shall contain such additional information
as may be deemed material. Substantiation of all the allegations made in the petition
shall be required and the allegations that no person can be found in the Philippines
willing and competent to perform the labor or service for which the nonimmigrant is
desired and that the nonimmigrant's admission would be beneficial to the public
interest shall be established beyond doubt by convincing and satisfactory evidence.”

9(g) Visas or the Pre-Arranged Employee Visas are valid only for the duration of the AEP or the current
employment contract (whichever is shorter). Thus, in the event that the foreign national will change
his/her employer, which will render the AEP invalid (as discussed above), the 9(g) visa will likewise be
rendered invalid. The sponsoring employer will thus be required to petition the downgrading of the
9(g) visa of the foreign national into a tourist visa; while the new employer must petition for the
issuance of a new 9(g) visa for the foreign national.

Under the Philippine Immigration Act, owners of companies who employ aliens without the required
visa may be meted fines and/or imprisonment. On the other hand, the foreign national who unlawfully
enters the Philippines without the appropriate visa shall be the subject of imprisonment and/or
deportation. (Section 46, Philippine Immigration Act)