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| Albo on a recent hike. She wasn't aware she had been in HK illegally for 5 months |
While Filipina helper and avid photo bug Thonie Albo was
going up trails in Hong Kong ’s countryside
recently, she did not realize that she was already staying in Hong Kong illegally.
She only learned this when staff from an employment agency
that was processing her new work contract informed her on Jul 18 that she had
already breached immigration laws by overstaying her employment visa.
It turned out her former employer had neglected to inform the
Immigration Department that Albo had reconsidered her resignation in February.
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Albo, 40, was confident that her visa was still valid
because she herself had sent the department a letter in February canceling her
resignation notice as her employer had pleaded with her to stay on until her
contract expires.
For some reason that letter did not reach Immigration so Albo
didn’t know that her visa was cancelled 14 days after her notice period had
lapsed.
After being assured by a friend that she should be able to
sort out her problem as she had documents to prove her case, Albo went to the Immigration Tower
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She told the officer that she was prevailed upon by her
employer to finish her contract on Aug. 8, and not leave on Mar 20 as she had
stated in her notice of termination.
Albo told the officer she sent a letter to Immigration also
in February, asking the department to cancel her termination notice. She showed
the officer a copy of that letter.
But the officer was still not satisfied. He gave Albo a form
to fill and instructed her to ask her employer for a longer written explanation
on what happened.
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Early yesterday afternoon, Albo returned to the Immigration
Department with the required documents. By 4pm, she was already on her way home
with a new visa that is valid until Aug 11.
It turned out Albo’s employer did not notify Immigration
about the cancellation of the termination notice as she wanted the helper to
sign up for a new contract.
After failing to convince Albo to stay on, the employer then
refused to give her an early release, even if she said she wanted to use her 14
days’ annual leave.
The helper said the employer did not even look concerned
when informed by Albo last Saturday evening about her having overstayed.
“Ayaw pa nga akong
pagreportin, feeling po niya hindi urgent. Sabi ko huhulihin na ako ng pulis,”
the maid said.
(She didn’t even want me to report back (to Immigration),
she feels it wasn’t urgent. I told her, the police are about to arrest me)
Albo said that midway through her two-year contract, she had
already thought of leaving because of a lack of sleep, her employer’s tantrums
and lack of concern for her.
“Ni hindi man lang nila
ako kinuhanan ng health insurance. Ako naman ang mag-suffer kung di ako lilipat,”
she said when asked why she was leaving the employer and her two and a half
year ward.
(She didn’t take out a health insurance for me. I would have
suffered if I didn’t leave).
With Aug 8 barely three weeks away, Albo is excited at
finally moving on to her next employers, an Indian family.
