Last night I had dinner with a bunch of former officemates at National Sports Grill. Over greasy burgers and cold beers we discussed life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. You know, all the things that happen once you’ve left The Perm.
By now most of them had heard about my new job in Hong Kong. We started talking about the move (what kind of visa I needed for China’s Special Administrative Region) when from the far end of the table, one of my favorite cohorts remarked, “Yeah and wait till you have to line up at the POEA all day.”
Now I thought this was the funniest punch line in the whole world! Timing was perfect, delivery impeccable (poker face all the way). I laughed so hard I thought I’d choke on a French fry. As I was drying the tears of happiness from my eyes I noticed something rather strange: no one else was laughing.
Oh. My. God. I really have to line up at the POEA.
Immediately I grew cold as mental images of me standing in an endless queue in a hot, crowded, decrepit government office raced through my brain. I pictured myself holding a clear plastic envelope and a Panda ball pen, walking around the POEA building looking lost while fixers tried to entice me with employment in Dubai. I imagined myself drowning in a sea of documentary requirements, missing my plane to Hong Kong, and a chance at a fabulous lifestyle.
Ok, so maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.
Apparently, when you have a work visa from another country stamped on your passport, Philippine immigration at the airport won’t let you board a plane unless you have an Overseas Employment Certificate from the OWWA, the Overseas Workers Welfare Association.
You see, the Philippine Government has to make sure I’m not leaving to be sold to slavery by a fly by night employer based in Riyadh. So I need to pay them P7,000, get a medical exam from an “accredited” medical clinic and attend a half day orientation on how to settle into a foreign country and avoid abuse from your employer.
Now that’s what I call idiotic public policy in action.
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