My wife applied for a domestic helper. The agency wants us to pay P70,000 as placement fee. Is this legal?
The legal placement fee to be collected by licensed recruitment agencies from applicants for overseas jobs must be equivalent to one month salary of the worker as stipulated in the employment contract. The amount, however, does not include documentation and processing costs which should not exceed P10,000.
Documentation costs include fees for passport, NBI/Police clearance, medical examinations, medicare premium, trade tests, authentication, birth certificate. Processing costs include visa, POEA processing fee, and OWWA membership fee to be paid by the employer.
You should verify with POEA first before you pay the fee.