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3 foreigners get indefinite visa for hiring Pinoys


MANILA, Philippines - Two Americans and a Malaysian citizen were granted indefinite ‘job generation’ visas in the Philippines after employing more than 10 Filipino workers in the country, the Immigration bureau said on Monday. The three foreign nationals, identified as Americans Thomas Michael Reilly and Deepak Agarwal and Malaysian Tan Kee Lian, were granted the Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG) after employing at least 10 Filipinos as full-time and regular employees in managerial, executive, professional, technical, skilled, or unskilled positions. According to the Bureau of Immigration, Reilly is an incorporator of the TrecPacific Corp., an information technology company that employs 200 full-time and regular Filipino workers. Meanwhile, Agarwal is an incorporator of Contactcenter.Com Inc., a call center firm that employs more than 700 Filipino workers. Tan is part-owner and general manager of the Indah Inn Hotel Management Corp., a company that develops and manages recreation and vacation sites in the country and which employs about 32 Filipino workers. Immigration chief Marcelino Libanan signed the certificates granting special entry visas to the three in a simple ceremony held at the BI main office in Intramuros. "We are encouraging other foreigners doing business in the country to avail of this visa as this is our way of reciprocating them for the jobs and livelihood opportunities that they provide to our countrymen," Libanan said. The issuance of the visa could not have come at a more opportune time, Libanan added, as the Philippines is likewise affected by the current global economic crisis. Earlier, the BI announced that Ruan Qiantu, a Chinese investor and executive of the power transmission firm National Grid Corp. of the Philippines NGCP) that employs more than 5,000 Filipinos, was the first recipient of the SVEG. [See: BI releases rules on indefinite visa for foreigners hiring Pinoys] Lawyer Cris Villalobos, BI-SVEG one-stop shop head, all three applicants complied with the requirements for the issuance of the visa which the BI started implementing a month ago. The visa was launched following an executive order that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed in Malacañang last Nov. 17 in a bid to encourage more foreign businessmen to invest in the country and generate employment opportunities for thousands of Filipinos. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
Tags: sveg, specialvisa
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