Issue 6

Employment Visa Processing To Be Suspended

Bad news is coming in quick succession for Filipinos and other foreign workers who intend to enter the US via employment-based immigration. 

Just when things couldn’t possibly get worse for them, the Department of State announced in its July 2005 Visa Bulletin that visa numbers in the employment-based third preference (EB-3) and “other worker” categories will no longer be available for all countries for the rest of fiscal year 2005.  

PROCESSING STOPS JULY 1 

This means the Department of State would have to suspend immigrant visa processing for these categories starting July 1.  

Those who are eligible to file for adjustment of status should file their I-140 and I-485 application before that date in order to avail of the benefits of adjustment, including work authorization.  

The backlog reduction efforts of the Immigration Service have triggered the depletion of the visa number allocation for 2005 so that even if the numbers will become available for the succeeding fiscal year, retrogression would likely be imposed. 

The EB-3 category refers to skilled workers and professionals like teachers, accountants, engineers and computer programmers. The “other worker” category refers to general houseworkers, home attendants, adult companions, and other unskilled workers. More...

YesPinoy is the latest agency that we have included in our reviews site. You may want to check it out at OnlinePhilippines. In addition, we have received a letter from YesPinoy. Here's an excerpt from that  letter:

Many thanks for putting details about us (YESPinoy.com) on your site. As a direct result of your constructive comments we have made some changes to the site. We have also reduced the send money fee to 6%. In the next few weeks we will be adding the ability to load UnionBank EON cards which can be used in ATMs world wide.  Although our head office is in Hong Kong, the development and support is provided by our office in Makati. Because our support team is here in the Philippines, we are able to provide a personalized service to those that use our send money service. ...the remitters overseas are put at ease knowing that we are assisting their family and friends they send their hard earned money to.

Thanks to YesPinoy for keeping us updated.

Here's an excerpt from a letter we received from RemitHome:

Thank you for consistently keeping our kababayans informed of the many options they have these days for sending money back home to the Philippines. We are delighted that you have placed remithome in your Top 5 remittance agencies, and in the recent months, for ranking us number one. 

We noticed a couple of minor details on your web site regarding remithome’s service that needs correction and once again, we would like to give you some clarifications directly. 

remithome does have a way for customers to track their remittances online by logging into their remithome account. Onlinephilippines currently has this “Tracking” feature marked with an X for remithome. 

Under Fee By Delivery Method – for security reasons, we currently do not offer door-to-door delivery of US Dollars. At this time, US Dollar transactions are available for direct deposit into a USD account in the Philippines only. Your web site indicates that we deliver USD door-to-door, which is currently not the case. 

We hope this clarifies remithome’s services. More power and support to your web site. You provide a great service!

We've made the corrections.

PhilPay recently launched its latest service feature -- Suki Merchant Service. If you're a Filipino and have the knack for doing online business, here's your chance to sell to a huge international e-market. By using PhilPay, you can sell items online or auction them on eBay and have your money deposited to your Philippine bank or transferred to your Globe cellphone. No fees charged to your buyer! Check it out at PhilPay.

Two months ago, PhilPay did a soft-launch of its service feature for missions and missionaries -- Project Philip. If you wish to or are currently sending regular financial support to a mission or missionary in the Philippines, Philpay offers the lowest fees and the highest exchange rate. Check it out at Project Philip.

Ruel Guerrero
OnlinePhilippines.net