Bureau of Immigration, OWWA Ease Travel Procedures for OFWs

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has introduced new procedures to further ease and expedite its processing of departing overseas Filipino workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) with the recent acquisition of several state-of-the-art gadgets from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina announced that last Friday he personally received from OWWA Deputy Administrator Josefino Torres six tablets and six bar code readers that BI personnel at NAIA would use to check the authenticity and validity of OWWA E-cards presented by departing OFWs.

The OWWA E-card, available for Balik-Manggagawa OFWs, serves as their exit clearance from the country. Apart from this, the card likewise allows OWWA members to avail OWWA services faster, allow use of the mobile application, and may be used as a permanent government-issued ID.

Medina recounted that there have been instances in the past when OFWs who were victimized by fraud syndicates were caught in possession of fake or invalid overseas employment certificates.

“This system prevents that as it automatically checks the validity of the E-card, which contains their OEC information,” said Medina.

“With the acquisition of these modern gadgets, the validity and genuineness of an E-Card can easily be checked in a matter of seconds—with the mere stroke of the finger,” Medina explained.

He said the gadgets will be given to BI personnel assigned to conduct pre-screening of OFWs while the latter are still queuing up for processing at the immigration departure counters of the NAIA.

“This means that we will be able to detect immediately if an E-Card is not valid, even before they reach the immigration counter,” Medina added.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente thanked the OWWA for donating the gadgets to the BI. “This partnership between BI and OWWA shows that government agencies who work together to improve their services are able to achieve so much,” said Morente. “This tech upgrade would go a long way in improving our services for our country’s modern day heroes,” he added.