According to the Bureau of Immigration (BI), all foreign workers employed by Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) have until December 31 to leave the country or face arrest and deportation.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado made the announcement as he urged foreign POGO workers to voluntarily downgrade their working visas to temporary visas so they could remain legally in the Philippines for 59 days while winding down their affairs.
He said the 59-day period after October 15 coincides with the President’s directive for foreign POGO workers to leave by the end of the year.
Visa downgrading allows foreign nationals to revert their status from a work visa to a temporary visitor visa. All POGO workers’ existing work permits will expire on October 15, and the bureau will no longer extend their visas.
Viado said the BI is committed to expediting the downgrading process for POGO employees: “We will ensure that the orders of the President are implemented swiftly and efficiently.”
The BI, together with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) formed an interagency task force on the closure of POGOs.
The bureau emphasized that the procedures for visa downgrading have been simplified, leaving no excuse for foreign POGO workers to delay compliance.
