Some foreign workers fall prey to ‘sponsorship’ jobs

As the Nov. 27 deadline draws near, foreign workers who are still jobless are falling prey to “sponsorship” jobs offered by some manpower agencies or individuals that require them to pay up to $1,000 or more to petition them for a Commonwealth-only worker status without guaranteed paid employment.

While unsure if paying $1,000 or at least half of it is legal, they said they are desperate to get a CW status so they are considering paying it anyway.

Leaders of two foreign worker groups-Dekada Movement president Boni Sagana and Marianas Advocates for Humanitarian Affairs Ltd. president Rene Reyes-said yesterday that they want to bring this matter to the attention of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to prevent foreigners desperate for jobs from being duped by unscrupulous individuals or agencies.

“We have members who are now asking whether it’s allowed by law for them to pay fees for their CW petition, and these people are now afraid to come out because it may make it more difficult for them to find a job,” said Sagana.

He said some of their members are being asked by manpower agencies to pay up to $1,000, so that they could be petitioned for a CW status.

A CW petition requires the employer to pay for the $325 application fee. The employer is also required to pay for the mandatory CNMI education funding fee of $150 per beneficiary.

USCIS district director David Gulick said the final worker regulations are clear that the employer-not the employee-should pay for the $325 application fee and the $150 education funding fee.

“Any biometrics fee or other fees, [including] the fee for an application for a spouse as a dependent, can be paid by the [employee],” he said.

Gulick said employers are not supposed to collect money from workers to pay for the application fee or the education fee.

“Their employer.should to be the one who would have to pay those fees. To collect them from the employees is a violation of the regulations,” he said. “If they’re saying they need to pay advance for the application fees, if you’re talking about employment-based application, then the workers should be aware that that’s not allowed under most of our immigration categories.”

CW petitions that are filed by employers who are found to have asked their employees to pay for the fees would likely be denied.

Sagana said that manpower agencies are asking for payment from nonresidents without guaranteeing the nonresidents that they will indeed work and get paid as a house worker or a maintenance worker, for example.

He said some manpower agencies approached by nonresidents even asked nonresidents to pay the manpower agency a certain amount which later on would “serve” as their own salary if the agency does not find a household or business that will avail of their service.

“If this is the case, it’s going back to the days when there were a lot of sponsorship jobs,” Sagana told Saipan Tribune.

Gulick, when asked about the legitimate fees that manpower agencies can charge nonresidents, said: “All I can say is they’re not allowed to collect the petition fee and the CNMI education fee from the prospective employee.”

Reyes, president of MAHAL and also manager at manpower agency Gold Crown, said there have been many instances wherein nonresidents approach their manpower agency, hoping that they could file a CW petition for them.

Reyes said they have been telling these nonresident house workers, for example, that it will be better if their current employers are the ones to approach their manpower agency rather than the worker themselves.

He said Gold Crown does not ask nonresidents to pay for the CW application fee and the education fee. But he said employers wanting to hire from the manpower agency are also charged $150 for documentation fee, in addition to expenses related to CW petition.

As of Nov. 10, less than 1,000 foreign workers have so far been petitioned by CNMI employers for a CW status.

More USCIS sessions

Because a tiny fraction of the estimated 13,399 foreign workers in the CNMI who are “potentially eligible” for CW status have so far been petitioned by employers, USCIS has been beefing up its sessions for employers in filing Form I-129CW.

As of Nov. 10, a total of 368 CW status petitions for 704 beneficiaries have been filed by 100 employers, USCIS said.

Gulick wrapped up yesterday the third day of a USCIS session for employers. The American Memorial Park indoor auditorium was again filled to capacity. Between Monday and Wednesday, the USCIS sessions covered some 300 employers or employer representatives.

But because many employers have yet to file Form I-129CW for their foreign workers, Gulick said USCIS will hold three more similar sessions next week. The schedule is still tentative-Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Gulick said employers should wait for the announcement.

“We want to give everybody a chance,” he said.

Employers interviewed yesterday said after attending the USCIS session, they will be more prepared to file the CW petitions for their foreign workers.

Marj Alamil, an employee at Success Auto Shop, said she was able to get a lot of clarification on filing the Form I-129CW. She said her employer plans to file the petitions soon.

Another employer representative who attended the session said that their foreign worker employees had wanted to have their CW petitions filed weeks back but the management decided to hold off filing the petitions until close to the Nov. 27 deadline.

“We don’t really know the reason, but we’re hoping they will petition us soon,” the employee said.

Ernie Lacorte, chief financial officer at Seventh-Day Adventist Clinic, said they will be filing the CW petitions this week or on Monday. Lacorte attended the USCIS sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to get more clarifications on the proper filing procedures.

Gulick reminded employers to read the instructions, and make sure the fees are correct.

Rejection versus denial

Gulick said 12 of the CW petitions submitted were rejected. A rejection is different from denial of the application.

He said rejection means that USCIS did not yet accept the petition officially, but the employer needs to correct something then submit the corrected application.

“It’s not considered as filed under the regulations. A denial is when we’ve accepted your application and we made a decision and adjudication on the merits of the case,” he said, adding that he has no data yet whether there have been any denials so far.

The reasons for the rejection of the 12 petitions included the use of an old version of the form, submission of an incorrect fee, one submitted too much money while one case had no money at all, and another one had an altered check.

USCIS hopes that CNMI employers will be able to avoid the same mistakes so that their CW petitions will not suffer the same fate.