BI: POGO foreign workers not to be refunded of working visa fee

Bureau of Immigration (File photo by PhotoPhilia/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Foreign nationals employed in the Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) and internet gaming licenses (IGL) companies will not be refunded of payment for their working visas, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday.

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval made the remark a day after the bureau announced that the foreign POGO and IGL workers have two months to leave the country following the ban on these establishments.

“There is no refund. Application fee is part of the process whether approved, denied or revoked,” she said in a message to the media.

A working visa cost PHP32,460 which covers the visa and alien certificate of registration (ACR) I-Card fees.

“They are required to come in person (to the BI office) during the process for biometric capturing,” he said.

In his third State of the Nation Address on July 22, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the ban on POGOs, an industry marred by controversies and illegal activities.

The BI said there are some 20,000 foreign nationals working in POGOs and IGLs in the country and 70 percent of them are Chinese nationals.

On Wednesday, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco gave the POGO and IGL foreign workers 60 days to leave the country beginning July 26.

Tansingco warned that violators will be subjected to deportation proceedings.