The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Thursday resumed the implementation of an employment generation program that grants foreign businessmen employing at least 10 Filipino workers the privilege to stay indefinitely in the country.
Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. made the announcement after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima approved memorandum circular No. RADJR-11-007, dated December 14, 2011, prescribing the revised rules for implementing the Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG), which was first introduced in 2009 pursuant to Executive Order No. 758.
However, the visa is still subject to restrictions imposed by the Constitution and existing laws on foreign investments, according to Associate Commissioner Siegfred Mison.
"The applicant must prove that his investment are substantial and that the business employs at least 10 Filipinos occupying managerial, executive, professional, technical, skilled or unskilled positions," Mison said in a statement.
He further said that the SVEG holders are considered special non-immigrants with multiply entry privileges and conditional extended stay, without need of prior departure from the Philippines.
