POEA has change of heart on direct hire policy

On Valentines Day, POEA suspended the new rules on direct hire or name hire. See POEA MC No. 01-2008 and POEA press release. More on this in succeeding blogs.

Finally some good news: Priority date for EB3 jumps to Jan 2005

AlinsugLaw has gotten a copy of the Visa Bulletin for March 2008 which has just come out and the biggest news is that the priority date for EB3 visas for Filipinos moved from November 2002 to January 1, 2005.

Below is the relevant excerpt of the March 2008 Visa Bulletin –

DOLE Clarifies Policy on Direct Hiring

Labor Secretary Arturo D. Brion clarifies the policy on name-hires.  Basically, the following points were reiterated: Foreign employer for name-hires will pay for the premium for the repatriation and performance bonds as well as provide OFW’s with medical insurance. 

The Labor Secretary highlights the rationale of providing for more protective measures under the name-hire processing as follows: