Legal basis and policy purpose
- The Executive Order anchors the program on Commonwealth Act (CA) No. 613, otherwise known as the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended.
- It relies on the President’s authority under CA No. 613 to admit foreigners as non-immigrants for a temporary period when public interest so warrants, under conditions the President may prescribe.
- It specifically invokes Section 47 (a)(2) of CA No. 613, as amended as the basis for admitting qualified foreigners as special non-immigrants for employment generation.
- It declares the intent to support the job opportunities of Filipinos, consistent with the administration’s 10-point Agenda advocacy on job creation.
- It frames the program around lawful, viable, and sustainable enterprise that directly supports local employment.
Special visa created: SVEG
- The Executive Order creates the Special Visa for Employment Generation (SVEG) as a special visa for a qualified non-immigrant foreigner.
- An SVEG holder must actually employ at least ten (10) Filipinos in a lawful and sustainable enterprise, trade or industry.
- A qualified SVEG holder is treated as a special non-immigrant with multiply entry privileges and conditional extended stay.
- SVEG status includes no need for prior departure from the Philippines to maintain lawful presence.
- The privileges extend to the SVEG holder’s spouse and dependent unmarried child/children below eighteen (18) years of age, whether legitimate, illegitimate or adopted.
Eligibility requirements for applicants
- To avail of the SVEG, the foreigner must comply with conditions requiring actual, direct or exclusive engagement in viable and sustainable activity in the Philippines.
- The foreigner must engage in a viable and sustainable commercial investment/enterprise in the Philippines.
- The foreigner must exercise/performs management acts or have the authority to hire, promote and dismiss employees.
- The foreigner must evince a genuine intention to indefinitely remain in the Philippines.
- The foreigner must not pose a risk to national security.
- 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.
- Eligibility conditions under Section 2 must be continually satisfied by the foreigner to keep the SVEG.
Application, review, and issuance steps
- Applications are received by the Commissioner of Immigration upon payment of regulatory fees.
- The Commissioner of Immigration must resolve SVEG applications within fifteen (15) days from the date of filing.
- Documentary proofs required by the Commissioner of Immigration are evaluated and reviewed without strict observance to the technicalities of evidence and procedure.
- Upon favourable review, the Commissioner of Immigration issues a Notice of Approval directing the foreigner-applicant to report for registration and documentation at the Bureau of Immigration.
- Upon registration and payment of appropriate fees, the Commissioner issues an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) I-Card and an Identification Certification (IC).
- The ACR I-Card and IC must indicate, among others, the status: “Status Adjusted without Departure as a Special Non-Immigrant with Multiply Entry Privileges and Conditional Extended Stay in the Philippines under (this Executive Order).”
- If an application is denied, the Commissioner issues a Notice of Disapproval informing the foreigner-applicant of the denial.
- A foreigner-applicant may file a Motion for Reconsideration (MR) within fifteen (15) days from receipt of the disapproval.
- Only one (1) Motion for Reconsideration may be entertained.
- The Commissioner of Immigration must monitor continued compliance by the foreigner with the requirements for the SVEG.
- Fees collected by the Bureau of Immigration must be acknowledged by bonded collecting offices through issuance of official receipts, and collections must be treated as government funds subject to strict auditing procedures.
Revocation and deportation consequences
- The Commissioner of Immigration must revoke the SVEG if any SVEG condition under Section 2 is not maintained.
- The Commissioner must revoke the SVEG if it was obtained through fraud or willful misrepresentation of material facts.
- The Commissioner must revoke the SVEG upon conviction by final judgment for a crime or offense in the Philippines.
- The Commissioner must revoke the SVEG upon a final determination by competent authority that the foreigner poses a risk to national security.
- A foreigner whose special non-immigrant status is revoked under revocation grounds tied to Section 4 (a)(i), Section 4 (a)(ii), or Section 4 (a)(iv) is deported through summary proceedings.
- A foreigner whose revocation is based on Section 4 (a)(iii) is deported after service of sentence.
- Deportation transport must take the foreigner 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 his coming to the Philippines.
Implementing rules and one-stop facility
- Within thirty (30) days from signing the Executive Order, the Commissioner of Immigration must promulgate Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).
- The IRR are developed with participation from Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), National Intelligence Coordination Agency (NICA), and other concerned government agencies, local or foreign chambers of commerce, and stakeholders as determined by the Commissioner of Immigration.
- The IRR must ensure orderly issuance of the SVEG.
- The IRR must provide for establishment of a One-Stop-SVEG Facility within the Bureau of Immigration.
- The One-Stop-SVEG Facility must assist interested foreigners with processing documentary requirements supporting the SVEG application, including an Alien Employment Permit from the DOLE.
Reporting and administrative oversight
- The Commissioner of Immigration must submit regular monthly reports on implementation of the Executive Order to the Office of the President and the Secretary of Justice.
- Certified copies of SVEG issuances by the Commissioner, including the supporting documents, must be furnished to the Secretary of Justice for proper departmental recording and review.
Interpretation, separability, repeals, and construction
- Nothing in the Executive Order diminishes or precludes the President as Chief Executive or the Secretary of Justice as Department Head from exercising powers over the Bureau of Immigration under the Revised Administrative Code and other existing laws, executive issuances, rules, and regulations.
- If any provision of the Executive Order is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the provisions not affected continue in force and effect.
- Provisions of other executive issuances, departmental/administrative orders, circulars, instructions, directives, and memoranda in conflict are repealed or modified accordingly.