As the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) amnesty program nears its 31 October deadline, Filipinos overstaying in the country without employment are racing to be repatriated.

The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai yesterday reported a surge in requests for travel documents as the amnesty deadline nears.

Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, Alfonso A. Ver, said the final count of repatriates under the program is expected by mid-week. As of Tuesday, 29 October, over 280 Filipinos have been repatriated since the program began last month.

Labor Attaché John Rio Bautista of the Migrant Workers Office in the UAE noted that 146 cases in Dubai involved children born to undocumented mothers who had no birth certificates due to their mothers’ status.

Unlike the 2018 program, which was extended, the current amnesty will definitively conclude at the end of the month.

The program offers undocumented migrants two options: leave with a clear record or stay if they could secure employment.

Despite this, some overseas Filipino workers with expired visas or documents have opted to remain and work part-time, often taking jobs like childcare, with rates around DHS 1,000 (approximately P15,000), depending on the number of children.