Working abroad from the Philippines
How the legal route to a job abroad works from the Philippines, and how to check before you pay anyone. Below the guide, the live job counts in each country: market data from employers' own career sites.
Read the guide Check an agency with the DMW
Route sketch, not a map
How the legal route works
General information, not legal advice. The DMW is the authority.
A licensed agency
Overseas recruitment for people in the Philippines goes through an agency licensed by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). Foreign employers advertise vacancies through such an agency.
An approved job order
Before an agency recruits for a foreign employer, the employer is accredited and a job order for that vacancy is approved. The DMW publishes a search of approved job orders. If you cannot find the job there, ask why.
Direct hiring is generally not allowed
Being hired directly by a foreign employer, without an agency, is generally not allowed for people in the Philippines. There are exemptions, for example for diplomats and international organisations, some professionals on contracts the DMW has verified, workers an employer names, and returning workers. Even an exempt hire is processed through the DMW.
The DMW processes everything
Leaving to work abroad needs an Overseas Employment Certificate from the DMW. The rules also limit what an agency may charge: ask the DMW for the current limit before you pay anything.
Warning signs of a scam
Fake job offers are common. Any one of these is a reason to stop.
- Asked to pay early, by transfer. Do not send money to a person or an account before you have checked the agency and the job order.
- Meetings away from the registered address. A licensed agency has an office. Be careful when you are asked to meet in a cafe, a car park or a chat group.
- No official receipt. Every payment should come with one.
- A copied agency page. Scammers copy the name, logo and licence number of a real agency. Check on the DMW directory, not on the advert.
DMW licensed-agency directory DMW approved job orders search
Both checks are on dmw.gov.ph. The DMW hotline is 1348. This is general information, not legal advice, and it may be out of date or incomplete. For your own case, ask the DMW or a Philippine lawyer.
Market data by country
Jobs live tonight in each country, from employers' own career sites. These are not offers and TUNAI does not place anyone.
Australia
26,000+live jobs, read from employers' own sitesJobs in Australia →From the Philippines toCanada
52,000+live jobs, read from employers' own sitesJobs in Canada →From the Philippines toIreland
5,000+live jobs, read from employers' own sitesJobs in Ireland →From the Philippines toUnited Kingdom
99,000+live jobs, read from employers' own sitesLicensed sponsors listedJobs in the UK →From the Philippines toUnited States
906,000+live jobs, read from employers' own sitesJobs in the US →Live counts, rounded down to the thousand.
We say what the advert says. Nothing more.
Advert offers a visa
Shown with the sentence we read it from.
Advert rules it out
Shown the same way, in the advert's own words.
Advert says nothing
Marked not stated. Never counted as a yes.
This is how the free visa sponsorship advert checker reads an advert, and how the TUNAI app quotes one.
Questions people ask first
Is this a recruitment agency?
No. TUNAI searches employers' own public adverts and never charges anyone.
Does a listing mean I will get a visa?
No. A job that can sponsor is not a job that will sponsor you. Each government sets its own visa rules, so use its official site.
How do I tell a real offer from a scam?
Never pay to get a job or a visa. Check a recruitment agency with the DMW at dmw.gov.ph, and check the employer on its own website.