Clearing OFWs for travel now just a click away--POEA

Clearing OFWs for travel now just a click away--POEA

June 12, 2006
Updated 11:16am (Mla time)

Inquirer

IT WILL be a hassle-free travel for overseas Filipino workers with valid documents from now on, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).

An OFW will no longer have to suffer the inconvenience of waiting a long time for his or her travel documents to be validated before being cleared for travel abroad, the POEA said in a statement.

“It will only take the OFW about five seconds to [have the documents] verified at the designated counters,” the POEA said.

The POEA said that an electronic database system that would expedite the validation of documents of departing Filipino workers was launched Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The OFW e-Link Deployment System allows airport authority staffers and immigration officers to make an online verification of OFW documents and data with the POEA, the government agency said.

Among these documents is the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC), it said.

Aside from presenting the OEC to the POEA counter at the NAIA, a departing Filipino worker will also have to present the document to the airport staff to avail of the exemption from the 550-peso terminal fee, and finally to the immigration officer who will determine the authenticity of the document, it said.

Any doubts raised on the authenticity of the OEC, for example, by an agency representative from the POEA, the airport authority or the Bureau of Immigration can be checked on the e-Link System, it said.

The OFW e-Link Deployment System is part of the OFW e-Link Program, which implements an electronic system among all government agencies involved in the documentation of Filipino workers, the POEA said.

The POEA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the BI for the implementation of the OFW e-Link Program at the NAIA.

Under the program, the MIAA and the BI will be provided with a network connection that will allow 24-hour online inquiry on the POEA’s OFW database.

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