PRESCRIBING GUIDELINES FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL VISA TO NON-IMMIGRANT FOR EMPLOYMENT GENERATION

WHEREAS, there are
foreigners who want to maintain a lawful presence in the Philippines by
actually directly or exclusively engaging in lawful, viable, and
sustainable trade, business, industry, or activity offering local
employment;

WHEREAS, according to
the April 2008 survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO), there
are 2.9 million Filipinos who are currently
unemployed;

WHEREAS, creation of
job opportunities for the Filipino is one of the advocacies of the
Arroyo Administration under its 10-point
Agenda;

WHEREAS, Commonwealth Act
(CA) No. 613, otherwise known as the Philippine Immigration Act of
1940, as amended, authorizes the President, when public interest so
warrants, to admit as non-immigrants, foreigners not otherwise provided
for by the Act, who are coming for a temporary period only, under such
conditions as may
prescribed;

WHEREAS, public
interest, particularly on an aspect of employment generation for
Filipinos warrants the admission of these foreigners as special
non-immigrants under Section 47 (a)(2) of CA No. 613, as
amended;

NOW, THEREFORE, I GLORIA MACAPAGAL
– ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by
virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby
order:

SECTION 1. Special Visa for
Employment Generation (SVEG) – The SVEG is a
special visa issued to a qualified non-immigrant foreigner who shall
actually employ at least ten (10) Filipinos in a lawful and sustainable
enterprise, trade or industry. Qualified foreigners who are granted the
SVEG shall be considered special non-immigrants with multiply entry
privileges and conditional extended stay, without need of prior
departure from the Philippines.

The privileges of
this Executive Order may extend to the qualified foreigner’s spouse and
dependent unmarried child/children below eighteen (18) years of age
whether legitimate, illegitimate or
adopted.

SECTION 2. Who may
avail – Non-immigrant foreigners who wish to avail
of the SVEG should comply with the following
conditions:

1. The foreigner shall
   actually, directly or exclusively engage in a viable and sustainable
   commercial investment/enterprise in the Philippines, exercises/performs
   management acts or has the authority to hire, promote and dismiss
   employees;

2. He evinces a
   genuine intention to indefinitely remain in the
   Philippines;

3. He is not a risk
   to national security; and

4. The
   foreigner’s commercial investment/enterprise must provide actual
   employment to at least ten (10) Filipinos in accordance with Philippine
   labor laws and other applicable special
   laws.

The above-mentioned requirements
must be continually satisfied by the foreigner for him/her to continue
to be a holder of the SVEG.

SECTION 3.
Application for SVEG – (a) Upon payment of
regulatory fees, the Commissioner of Immigration shall receive and
resolve SVEG applications within fifteen (15) days from the date of
filing. Documentary proofs required by the Commissioner of Immigration
shall be evaluated and reviewed without strict observance to the
technicalities of evidence and procedure.

(b) Upon
favourable review, the Commissioner of Immigration shall issue a Notice
of Approval directing the foreigner-applicant to report for
registration and documentation at the Bureau of Immigration. An Alien
Certificate of Registration (ACR) I-Card and an Identification
Certification (IC) shall be issued upon payment of appropriate fees.
The ACR I-Card and the IC shall indicate among others, the
following:

“Status Adjusted without
Departure as a Special Non-Immigrant with Multiply Entry Privileges and
Conditional Extended Stay in the Philippines under (this Executive
Order)”

(c) Otherwise, the
Commission shall issue a Notice of Disapproval informing the foreigner
applicant of the denial of his application. Within fifteen (15) days
from receipt of such disapproval, the foreigner-applicant may file a
motion for Reconsideration (MR) for the review of his application. Only
one (1) such Motion shall be entertained.

(d) The
Commissioner of Immigration shall monitor the continued compliance by
the foreigners of the requirements of the SVEG.

(e)
All fees collected by the Bureau of Immigration shall be acknowledged
by bonded collecting offices via issuance of official receipts. These
collections shall be accounted for as government funds and subject to
strict auditing procedures.

SECTION 4.
Revocation of the SVEG – (a) The
Commissioner of Immigration shall revoke the SVEG granted: (i) If the
SVEG holder fails to maintain compliance of any of the conditions see
forth in Section 2 hereof; (ii) If it was obtained through fraud or
willfull misrepresentation of material facts; (iii) Upon conviction of
the foreigner by final judgment for a crime or offense in the
Philippines; or (iv) A final determination by competent authority that
the foreigner poses a risk to national security.

(b)
A foreigner whose special non-immigrant status is revoked under
Sections 4 (a) (i), 4 (a) (ii) or 4 (a) (iv) hereof shall be deported
via summary proceedings. In the case of revocation under Section 4 (a)
(iii), the foreigner shall be deported after the service of
sentence.

(c) A foreigner deported by the BI Board
of Commissioners under this Section shall be transported to the country
whence he came, or to the foreign port where he embarked for the
Philippines, or the country of his nationality of or of which he is a
citizen or subject, or to the country in which he resided prior to his
coming to the Philippines.

SECTION 5.
Implementing Rules and Regulations and the One-Stop-SVEG
Facility – Within thirty (30) days from the signing
of this Executive Order, the Commissioner of Immigration, together with
representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of
Finance (DOF), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE), the National Intelligence Coordination Agency (NICA)
as well as other concerned government agencies, local or foreign
chambers of commerce, and stakeholders as determined by the
Commissioner of Immigration, shall promulgate the necessary
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) to ensure the orderly issuance
of the SVEG.

Such IRR shall provide for the
establishment of a One-Stop-SVEG Facility within the Bureau of
Immigration with the participation of the departments and agencies
abovementioned, to assist interested foreigners in the processing of
documentary requirements to support their SVEG application (i.e. Alien
Employment Permit from the DOLE, etc.)

The IRR shall
take effect fifteen (15) days after the completion of its publication
in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. Copies of the
IRR shall be sent to the Office of the President, the Secretary of
Justice, and the National Administrative Register at the U.P. Law
Center.

SECTION 6. Reportorial
Requirements – The Commissioner of Immigration
shall submit regular monthly reports on the implementation of this
executive order to the Office of the President and the Secretary of
Justice.

Certified copies of the SVEG issued by the
Commissioner of Immigration pursuant to this Executive Order, including
the supporting documents thereon, shall likewise be furnished to the
Secretary of Justice for proper departmental recording and
review.

SECTION 7.
Construction – Nothing in this Executive
Order shall be construed to diminish or otherwise preclude the
President as Chief Executive, and the Secretary of Justice as
Department Head, from exercising their respective powers and
authorities over the Bureau of Immigration, pursuant to the provisions
of the Revised Administrative Code and other existing laws, executive
issuances, rules, and regulations.

SECTION
8. Separability Clause – If any provision
of this Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the
provisions not affected thereby shall continue in force and
effect.

SECTION 9. Repealing
Clause – The provisions of other executive
issuances, departmental/administrative orders, circulars, instructions,
directives and memoranda incostinent herewith are hereby repeal or
modified accordingly.

SECTION 10.
Effectivity – This Executive Order shall
take effect fifteen (15) days after completion of its publication in at
least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation.

DONE in the City of
Manila, this 17^th day of November in the year of
Our Lord, Two Thousand and Eight.

By the
President:

(Sgd.) EDUARDO R.
ERMITA
Executive
Secretary