Recruitment agencies disappointed over slow pace of processing documents for inbound Filipino workers

By Ricky Laxa
Staff Writer

Local agencies in Kuwait express disappointment over the slow processing of documents for Filipino workers prior to their arrival in Kuwait. Questions arise addressing the Philippine government as to why the procedures, which normally take a few days to process now can consume more than a month just to acquire clearance and another few weeks to complete the required procedures.

In  a brief interview with recruitment agency representatives in Kuwait stated that the whole process  of deploying Filipino workers in Kuwait now takes more than a month or two as compared to previous procedures which took few days to finish.

“After submitting the required documents such as company license and authorized signatures via email to the Migrant Workers Office (MWO), the response often takes a month and this is just the start” complained recruitment agency employee. The employee added that since Philippines announced the opening of deployment, till now not one has received any clearance from MWO.  The next phase of processing includes submission of recruitment agreement  for signatures to the Philippine recruitment office, which  again consumes  about two weeks.

These are few of the required procedures mandated by the Department of Migrant Workers (MWO) excluding stamping, approval and translation. The final phase is the stamping of documents from a Kuwait Department and signature of approval prior to the release of documents by the Philippine Labor Attache in Kuwait.

“It used to take most a week to finish the documentations yet now is more than two months. We often face the complaints from employers as to the slow pace of processing documents from the Philippine side and this cause loss of interest in the part of employers” added local recruitment officer.

“I understand that we need to ensure the welfare and safety of the workers but some of the required procedures are irrelevant and non essential to the whole process.” Agencies urged the Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait to review, remove if not speed up its process of documenting the Filipino workers bound to Kuwait.