Filipino workers who wish to gain employment in France will now have an easier time fulfilling their goal. Gerald Chesnel, France’s Ambassador to the Philippines said that the new labor migration policy in France makes it easy for overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) to land a job there.

The France Ambassador said, “There will be more Filipinos in France because we have also new regulations for migration. If Filipino workers want to come to France, it is easier now.”

France specifically wish to attract Filipino workers in the following field:  electronic, information technology, and health care industries.

Chesnel said, “We need [people] especially in electronics, informatics, IT. We need also nurses. We don’t have enough in France people who can take care of our old people because in France and most countries in Europe, we don’t have enough young people who are willing to take care of the old people. We know that Filipino nurses are very good for that and they respect your people and treat them well. This is the population we would like to welcome.”

To formalize the new labor policy, an immigration agreement with the Philippines and France is set to be signed before year 2008 ends. The main agencies involved are the following: French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Co-Development, the Department of Labor (DoLE), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Chesnel informed, “We are in the process of discussions with the Philippine government. We have already signed the letter of intent and we hope to sign the formal agreement this year.”

One of the provisions in the agreement is that skilled and professional OFWs would eventually come back to the Philippines after years of working in France

Chesnel explained, “Those who are coming are people who can be useful to France and who can be also usefully trained and useful to the Philippines when they come back. Our policy is not to make brain drain. We think the best thing we can do is to have your competent people to come to France to work for six, nine, 10 years and then they go back to the Philippines,” he said.

Another feature of the new immigration rule is that twenty percent of the OFW’s wages will automatically go to the government or employer. The amount can only be withdrawn after the OFW return to the Philippines.

The France embassy in the Philippines provide details, "And I’ve already put in place, for particularly skilled workers, a specific procedure allowing them a three-year, once renewable, permit to stay in France. This shows that by encouraging the movement of skilled workers, we are rejecting the brain drain.

Chesnel said the agreement would not have the French government as a broker for the jobs. He said job contracting would be done through the private sector.

“They have to find their work and we will give them visa…There is no quota. You need a visa, and permit to work. The Filipino candidate has to find the job by himself. We can help him but we can’t find a job for him,” he said.