Policy and legal basis for SVEG
- Executive Order No. 758 establishes guidelines to admit certain foreigners as special non-immigrants for employment generation of Filipinos.
- Executive Order No. 758 recognizes authority under Commonwealth Act No. 613, otherwise known as the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended, for the President to admit foreigners as non-immigrants for a temporary period under conditions prescribed when public interest so warrants.
- Executive Order No. 758 anchors the SVEG concept on admission under Section 47 (a)(2) of CA No. 613, as amended, for purposes connected with employment generation.
Definitions and status created
- The Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG) is a special visa issued to a qualified non-immigrant foreigner who meets the employment-generation requirements (Section 1).
- Qualified SVEG holders are treated as special non-immigrants with multiple entry privileges and conditional extended stay in the Philippines without need of prior departure (Section 1).
- The SVEG holder is authorized to remain lawfully in the Philippines while actually employing Filipinos through the covered enterprise (Section 1 and Section 2).
Who may qualify and covered beneficiaries
- Non-immigrant foreigners may avail of the SVEG by complying with all conditions in Section 2 (Section 2).
- The SVEG requires that the foreigner actually, directly or exclusively engage in a viable and sustainable commercial investment/enterprise in the Philippines, including performing management acts or having authority to hire, promote and dismiss employees (Section 2(a)).
- The SVEG requires the foreigner to evince a genuine intention to indefinitely remain in the Philippines (Section 2(b)).
- The SVEG requires the foreigner to be not a risk to national security (Section 2(c)).
- The foreigner’s enterprise must provide actual employment to at least ten (10) Filipinos in accordance with Philippine labor laws and other applicable special laws (Section 2(d)).
- The privileges of the SVEG extend to the qualified foreigner’s spouse and dependent unmarried child/children below eighteen (18) years of age, whether legitimate, illegitimate or adopted (Section 1).
- The SVEG’s requirements must be continually satisfied by the foreigner to continue holding the SVEG (Section 2).
Application, approvals, documentation, and fees
- Upon payment of regulatory fees, the Commissioner of Immigration shall receive and resolve SVEG applications within fifteen (15) days from the date of filing (Section 3(a)).
- The Commissioner of Immigration evaluates documentary proofs without strict observance to the technicalities of evidence and procedure (Section 3(a)).
- If review is favorable, the Commissioner of Immigration issues a Notice of Approval directing the foreigner-applicant to report for registration and documentation at the Bureau of Immigration (Section 3(b)).
- Upon favorable review and payment of appropriate fees, the Bureau of Immigration issues an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) I-Card and an Identification Certification (IC) (Section 3(b)).
- If review is not favorable, the Commissioner of Immigration issues a Notice of Disapproval informing the foreigner-applicant of the denial (Section 3(c)).
- Within fifteen (15) days from receipt of a disapproval, the foreigner-applicant may file a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) for review of the application; only one (1) such Motion is entertained (Section 3(c)).
- The Commissioner of Immigration monitors the foreigner’s continued compliance with the SVEG requirements (Section 3(d)).
- All fees collected by the Bureau of Immigration must be acknowledged by bonded collecting officers through issuance of official receipts, and collections must be accounted for as government funds subject to strict auditing procedures (Section 3(e)).
- The ACR I-Card and IC issued under the SVEG indicate the status: “Adjusted without Departure as a Special Non-immigrant with Multiple Entry Privileges and Conditional Extended Stay in the Philippines under (this Executive Order)” (Section 3(b)).
Revocation, deportation, and consequences
- The Commissioner of Immigration shall revoke the SVEG in the following cases:
- If the SVEG holder fails to maintain compliance of any condition in Section 2 (Section 4(a)(i));
- If it was obtained through fraud or willful misrepresentation of material facts (Section 4(a)(ii));
- Upon conviction of the foreigner by final judgment for a crime or offense in the Philippines (Section 4(a)(iii)); or
- Upon a final determination by competent authority that the foreigner poses a risk to national security (Section 4(a)(iv)).
- If revocation is under Section 4(a)(i), Section 4(a)(ii), or Section 4(a)(iv), the foreigner shall be deported via summary proceedings (Section 4(b)).
- If revocation is under Section 4(a)(iii), the foreigner shall be deported after the service of sentence (Section 4(b)).
- When deported by the BI Board of Commissioners, the foreigner shall be transported to: the country whence he came; or the foreign port where he embarked for the Philippines; or the country of nationality or citizenship; or the country in which he resided prior to coming to the Philippines (Section 4(c)).
Implementing Rules and One-Stop-SVEG Facility
- Within thirty (30) days from signing, the Commissioner of Immigration, with representatives from DOJ, DOF, DTI, DFA, DOLE, NICA, and other concerned government agencies, local or foreign chambers of commerce, and stakeholders as determined by the Commissioner of Immigration, shall promulgate necessary Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) to ensure orderly issuance of the SVEG (Section 5).
- The IRR shall provide for establishment of a One-Stop-SVEG Facility within the Bureau of Immigration with participation of the listed departments and agencies (Section 5).
- The One-Stop-SVEG Facility shall assist interested foreigners in processing documentary requirements to support the SVEG application, including an Alien Employment Permit from the DOLE (Section 5).
- The IRR takes effect fifteen (15) days after completion of its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation (Section 5).
- 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 5).
Reporting, administration, and oversight
- The Commissioner of Immigration shall submit regular monthly reports on implementation of Executive Order No. 758 to the Office of the President and the Secretary of Justice (Section 6).
- Certified copies of SVEG issued by the Commissioner of Immigration, including supporting documents, shall also be furnished to the Secretary of Justice for proper departmental recording and review (Section 6).
- Nothing in Executive Order No. 758 diminishes or precludes the President and the Secretary of Justice from exercising their respective powers and authorities over the Bureau of Immigration under the Revised Administrative Code and other existing laws, executive issuances, rules, and regulations (Section 7).
Separability, repealing, and final effectivity
- Section 8 provides a separability rule: if any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions continue in force and effect.
- Section 9 provides a repealing clause: prior executive issuances and departmental/administrative orders, circulars, instructions, directives, and memoranda inconsistent with Executive Order No. 758 are repealed or modified accordingly.
- Section 10 reiterates that Executive Order No. 758 takes effect fifteen (15) days after completion of its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.