Dubai: Filipino expatriates in the UAE on Sunday urged their government to hasten plans to make the Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC) or travel exit clearance process online to eliminate long queues and hassles at Philippine missions.

The exit clearance is a Philippine government requirement that proves that a returning Filipino is in the Philippines for a holiday and intends to go back to the same employer abroad. Manila airport officials do not allow Filipinos to return to their jobs abroad without the document.

Filipinos by the hundreds have begun queuing at the Philippine labour office in Al Qusais every day since the start of the holiday season to get the document. The office has limited processing of the document to 500 applicants a day due to the huge volume of applicants.

“The application process for OECs should be done online as it is a huge inconvenience for us to spend one whole day away from work just to get one document,” Jordan, who came to the labour office at 6.45am with his wife, told Gulf News. Five hours later, they still had not finished.

Irene Fabale, 35, a housemaid, said it would help if the government had a computerised system instead of the doing it manually.

“Almost all agencies here are using advanced online systems. It’s a pity we’re still lagging behind,” Fabale said.

Plans to launch the online OEC system have been in the pipeline since May last year. Philippine officials told Gulf News then that the system was expected to go live in the fourth quarter of this year. But problems in procurement delayed the project.

“We’re hoping to roll out the new system on the first half of next year. Currently, we’re already operating a semi-online system with the appointment system for OEC’s that we currently have,” Hans Cacdac, administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), told Gulf News from Manila.

Cacdac said the current online appointment system to get OECs is now being doubly used to pre-process OECs, as a prelude to the new system next year. Some 4,000 OECs have been processed and will be released later this month and in January.

“The only missing component is the e-payment scheme. But we’re already working on that,” Cacdac said. “We encourage all returning Filipinos to avail of the online appointment system and all the other options available.”

Cacdac said Filipinos may apply for OECs in POEA offices in major cities and selected malls in the Philippines. To check the list, visit www.polodubai.com.

To get your online appointment, visit here.