The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Sunday warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are looking for work abroad against the "third country recruitment."
The term third country recruitment refers to a scheme where OFWs are offered to work in another country where they were not legitimately hired.
According to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, under the "third country recruitment" scheme, OFWs whose visas have expired will be offered a transfer to another country.
This indicates that the OFW will move to a third nation after his contract expires rather than return to the Philippines.
Tansingco cited the risks that the scheme poses to OFWs, stating that this prevents the Philippine government from having any record of their transfer to another country.
The said fraud is no longer covered by the BI, but Tansingco reminded the public to still be cautious.
"While third-party recruitment is beyond the scope of the BI, we deem it necessary to share with the public stories we encounter at the airport, as we are the first to hear about this back in the Philippines," he said.
"OFWs should protect themselves from exploitation by ensuring proper documentation when they work abroad," he added.
BI issued the warning after five Filipinos were sent home from Moscow, Russia, last Friday.
Among them was a man who left as a tourist to visit his OFW wife in Russia but overstayed there due to the pandemic, while the other four OFWs have valid overseas employment certificates.
Three of the victims were all female OFWs in Hong Kong who were recruited and transferred to Russia when their contracts expired. The other female victim was also working as a nanny in Russia and stayed there despite the contract having expired.
