Diplomatic activity at the Romanian Embassy in Manila remains suspended until March 25. Work visas for Philippine staff have been unobtainable for the past months amid the lack of a permanent consul in Manila. "It is simply impossible to obtain work visas at present, and this situation has been going on for more than six months now, when it takes months just to process a file," said Yosef Gavriel Peisakh, General Manager of Work From Asia, one of the largest labor importing agencies in the Philippines.
Unlike in previous years, when the issuance of work visas was assigned to another nearby embassy or temporary consuls were assigned, this time, the process of appointing a permanent consul is expected to take more than 6 months.
"The authorities have twice sent temporary consuls for three weeks. Following the last appointment, unfortunately a lot of visas were mis-issued and had to be re-issued, which made things even more difficult. The only viable solution at the moment is to urgently bring in a new temporary consul or to redirect visa issuance to another diplomatic mission in the area," said Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
Currently, Romania imports labor from the Philippines mainly for agriculture, construction, transportation, HoReCa and the domestic segment, represented by nannies, housekeepers and drivers or domestic assistants.
