iDOLE OFW ID Card – Is It Really Free?

On more than one occasion, the Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the iDOLE OFW ID cards will be given for free to our Overseas Filipino Workers. You can even find this mentioned in the press releases of both POEA and DOLE on their respective official websites.

See the first part of the statement here:

Last July 12, 2017 during the official launching of the OFW IDs in Malacanang, the Presidential Spokesperson Ernie Abella said that “The processing of the iDOLE would be shouldered by the employers; hence, OFWs need not pay for the cost of the ID, which would be delivered by PhilPost to their respective addresses.” You can see this on the official statement as seen on the website of PCOO.

OFW ID Update July 14, 2017

If you have access to the online platform of the Integrated Department of Labor and Employment, specifically under the Overseas One Stop Shop eServices and you navigated to the section about the iDOLE OFW ID card and you entered your pertinent details as well as indicate where to ship your own identification card, you will see that there are charges or fees to get the ID and have it delivered to your address.

The OFW ID card cost P501.00, and the PHLPOST delivery fee is P200 for sending to Benguet. Not sure P200 is the flat rate of PHLPost or it depends on where the iDOLE card will be sent. Please see screenshot:

*This screenshot is from the Facebook page Enrique Isang OFW, follow the page for news and updates that is relevant to our OFWs.

Based on the sample screenshot above, it is confusing to an OFW who heard on the news and tv reports that the ID will be free and then to login to an official government portal and see the total cost of ID and delivery fee clearly indicated. Maybe it would have been better if there is a notification above the page that clearly indicates something like “The iDOLE OFW ID Cards will be paid for by the employer.”

Have you seen this when you login to the portal too?

 

Update July 14 at 7PM

Perhaps the attention of government officers have been alerted regarding this issue that they have made an update on the the portal and put up a banner that says “This website is for testing only.”

iSensey will update this post for the next development. Visit website again or follow iSensey on Facebook.

EMPLOYERS TO PAY FOR THE OFW IDs

If you go back to the statement made by Presidential Spokesperson Abella, he clearly said that cost of ID will be shouldered by the employer, we hope this is true for all – those who are still in the Philippines waiting for their flight dates and those who are now in abroad.

But for now, new concerns are brought up. Questions and concerns like:

1. What if the OFW is already abroad now and really wants to get an ID, how will the DOLE or the government bill his/her employer? Where will the ID be sent home address in the Philippines or address abroad?
2. Can the OFW who is currently based abroad request for own ID and just pay it themselves to fast-track the whole process?
3. Those who are still in the Philippines waiting for departure date, can they get their IDs before leaving the country?
4. Secretary Bello said in tv interviews that ex-OFWs or former OFWs will also be allowed to get their OFW ID since ‘once an OFW, always an OFW”. Is it safe to assume that the ex-OFW will pay for the cost of getting an iDOLE OFW ID?
5. When exactly, what date can the OFWs start to request for their IDs?

iSensey checked on the website of POEA and there are these notifications re the current status of OFW ID as of July 14:

The statement highlighted in yellow mentions that while the ID is not yet available, OFW’s will still get OEC through the BM online facility. If you have previously registered in BM Online and thus is in the database of the Balik Manggagawa Program, you will get OEC exemption.

As of today July 14, 2017 the complete guidelines on how to request for iDOLE OFW ID is not yet available. Hopefully all the questions and concerns will be address asap for the peace of mind of our OFWs.

Please let us know once you get your own ID, to give hope to others who are waiting for their’s by leaving a comment on this psot.