STARTING next month, foreigners will be required to obtain a certificate of no objection (CNO) from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to apply for work-related permits or visas.
In a three-page advisory, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the new requirement will cover all foreigners except those belonging to the following categories: scholars, students, volunteers, and personnel of qualified International Organizations; foreign nationals exempted under Section 7 of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 001, Series of 2019; and foreign national required to secure Alien Employment Permit (AEP) from DOLE.
He said CNO applications will be processed by their regional offices (DOLE RO) for a fee of P500.
“The DOLE RO shall grant or deny the issuance of the CNO within three working days after receipt and evaluation of complete documentary requirements and payment of corresponding permit,” Bello said in Department Order 205.
“The issuance of the CNO by the DOLE shall not be construed as an automatic approval of the application of the work-related permit or visa,” he added.
The application for CNO may be denied by the DOLE RO if there is meritorious objection or information on the employment of the applicant; use fraudulent documents in the application; and derogatory information on the applicant from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) Director Dominique R. Tutay said the measure aims to allow them to monitor the permits and visas issued by other government agencies.
“It’s actually meant to capture data of all foreign nationals intending to work in the Philippines, legally as expressed in the JMC,” Tutay told the BusinessMirror in an SMS.
To recall, the JMC, which was signed last July, mandated DOLE to maintain a centralized database of all foreign workers in the country.