According to Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, even if the US government does not accept petitions for new visas from those in specialized professions (nursing and teaching) until October 2005, Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) officials, plus, several US territories said they're hiring Filipino construction and tourism workers this year.

Sto. Tomas noted that TCI officials came to the Philippines in February to personally oversee the screening of applicants for different jobs in their island. "TCI is planning to hire at least 1,000 construction and tourism workers and they agreed on our suggestion to get those people from areas which our government declared as poverty-free zones," she said. 

Moreover, the Philippine government is promoting the hiring Pinoys from poor communities to promote economic activity in these areas through the remittances of overseas Filipino workers.

She, also, mentioned that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Washington is trying to expand job opportunities for Filipino workers in Caribbean countries such as TCI, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Currently, there are 1,332 Filipino workers employed in Cayman Islands, Bahamas and TCI.

Washington-based labor attaché Arturo Sodusta said, "We hope to facilitate hiring of more Filipinos there". POLO is also trying to eliminate bureaucratic requirements and other concerns that discourage American employers from hiring workers from the Philippines, Sodusta added.