Last November 30, the Department of Labor and Employment gave out an information that about 300 Filipinos illegally residing and working in Kuwait have started availing the amnesty program being offered by the Kuwaiti government.

Labor Attache to Kuwait Leopoldo B. De Jesus has told DOLE Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and the Consular Office at the Philippine embassy in Kuwait have been receiving an average of 50 applicants in a day since the amnesty period started last November 20.He also added, that so far, the consular office has processed around 300 applications for travel documents, which is the basic requirement for those without passports.

Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Bayani Mangibin has designated De Jesus to head a committee that will address the needs of Filipinos wishing to avail of the amnesty program.

Under the amnesty program, applicants may already leave Kuwait once they have secured exit clearance from the immigration office which has jurisdiction on the residence of their original sponsor. The program applies only to those staying at the Filipino Workers' Resource Center (FWRC) who have valid passports, cancelled or expired visas and without desertion cases. Since majority of stranded overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) at the FWRC still have valid residence visa, their repatriation would still pass through the normal procedure.

The amnesty program shall provide OFWs the opportunity to either legalize their stay or leave Kuwait without paying fines. Moreover, those who will apply for the program can still return to Kuwait after the amnesty period expires without being blacklisted.

De Jesus also said that many OFWs have complained about the difficulty of getting flight schedules or airline bookings because of the many fellow Filipinos raring to go home for the holiday season.

With this, he has suggested to Ambassador Bayani Mangibin to request an extension from the Kuwaiti government to allow applicants to leave the country even after the amnesty period has expired, but he also pointed out that the extension would cover only those applications processed during the amnesty period.

At the same time, De Jesus suggested that the validity of the travel documents of affected OFWs be extended by at least two weeks after amnesty period has lapsed.