Beware of job scam in Japan – POEA News Release
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has warned Filipino job seekers, especially those who are already in Japan, to be cautious of unauthorized entities that promise regular work in the said country.
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Tokyo has reported on two Japan-based entities, ARCA Limited Liability Corp. and Technology Japan (TJ) Partner who are allegedly involved in illegal recruitment activities. Both companies operate with alleged partners in the Philippines but they do not have existing job orders or manpower requests duly accredited and registered with the Administration.
The report said ARCA promises its victims finding regular work under the Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) program to Filipino trainees after completion of their initial 3-year Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). In its Facebook page advertisement, ARCA offers “overseas exit clearance support” or facilitation of overseas employment certificates (OEC) as a returning worker or balik-manggagawa. The trainees have to pay exorbitant placement fees, only to be denied of proper work visa by the Japan Ministry of Justice’s Immigration Services Agency. In its Facebook page, ARCA has claimed Mariz Manpower Services as its recruitment partner in the Philippines.
ARCA also has a Japanese language training partner in the Philippines called 3TO Language Tutorial Services allegedly owned by Marilou Nishihara. The language center targets Filipino technical intern trainees who have ended 3 or 5 years of their training program offering them “conversion of visa status”.
ARCA allegedly charge and collect around JPY 436,000 from every worker: JPY 100,000 for the processing fee; JPY 100,000 for the POEA fees, medical fee of JPY 36,000, success reward fee of JPY 180,000, and a monthly fee of JPY 8,888 to be paid in 4 years.
TJ Partners, on the other hand, allegedly has a joint venture with Fil-HR Manpower Service, another recruitment agency in the Philippines and has its language training school identified as Phil-Core Language Skill Training Center.
TJ Partners entices Filipinos in Japan with the promise of SSW visa conversion for a fee but threatens potential victims who decide to withdraw from the illegal process.
POLO Tokyo reported that TJ Partners has already lured some 48 housekeepers to resign from their jobs with a promise of placement in other industries or to be issued three-month designated activities visas. The Immigration Services Agency, however, denied the extension of their expired visas.
The POEA reminds Filipinos job seekers to only transact with licensed recruitment agencies with job orders approved by the administration and always confirm offers of employment through the POEA verification system www.poea.qov.ph or email the POEA Information Center at connect@poea.gov.ph