A total of 86 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Abu Dhabi who availed of the UAE general amnesty program arrived in the Philippines on Friday, November 2.
The group is the first batch of OFW grantees who arrived home following the extension of the UAE’s amnesty program until December 1.
They were welcomed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2 by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn Quintana said that the Philippine government shouldered the exit permits and other penalties of the OFWs as well as the airline ticket on their way home.
Transportation allowance was also given to OFWs upon their arrival in Manila to be used for their traveling expenses to their respective provinces.
All OFWs also received Php5,000 financial assistance from the government.
Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said that as many as 2, 417 undocumented Filipinos have been sent home through the program.
Reports claim that 3,140 Filipinos have applied for passport renewal to avail of the six-month jobseeker’s visa while 1,203 applied for ‘lost passport’ in order to rectify their visa status.
Under the amnesty program, overstaying Filipinos and other foreign nationals are given the opportunity to rectify their immigration status or to return to their home countries.
DFA continues to urge overstaying OFWs in the UAE to avail of the opportunity to return home before the program ends on December 1.
