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OFW Contract and OFW Pass: Checklist
[Your name], [Country and job site]. The OEC is now called OFW Clearance, also known as OFW Pass.
1. What you need
☐ A DMW-approved contract. The agency must show you all terms and give you a copy before you sign.
☐ The agency’s license and the approved job order: check both on dmw.gov.ph.
☐ Domestic workers: a video call with the employer before the contract.
☐ An official BIR receipt for any placement fee.
2. The form
– Check your contract for: employer, position and site; salary and how it is paid; food and housing; start and term; free travel both ways; hours and rest day; leave and emergency care; grounds for ending it; repatriation. Confirm this older list with your Migrant Workers Office.
– A missing term goes in a compliance form or addendum signed by the employer.
– Domestic workers: one full rest day a week, and your passport stays with you.
3. Your application
– Returning to the same employer and country: OFW Travel Pass in eGovPH: NGA, DMW, Balik-Manggagawa.
– New employer or new job site: DMW Online Systems, then in-person processing.
– New hire: e-Registration and your agency. Direct hire: POPS-Direct and a contract verified by the Migrant Workers Office.
4. Where to file
– Recruitment violations and refund of fees: DMW regional office.
– Money and dismissal: NLRC, after SEnA.
– Abroad: your Migrant Workers Office. DMW hotline: 1348.
5. Time limits
– OEC: valid 60 days for first deployment, 90 days for rehires. OFW Travel Pass: 90 days from issue.
– Placement fee: at most one month’s basic salary, only after you sign the contract. None for domestic workers or where it is banned, such as Qatar.
– The employer pays the visa, permits, airfare, DMW fee and OWWA. You pay your documents, medical and Philhealth, Pag-IBIG and SSS.
– Complaints to DMW: 3 years. Money claims: 3 years. Illegal recruitment: 5 years.
– Domestic workers’ USD 500 minimum is being phased in: ask your Migrant Workers Office.
6. Keep it and renew
– Keep your contract with you, leave a copy with your family, and keep every fee receipt.
– Lost your OEC: ask DMW or the airport office in writing for a certification.
Contract verified on [Verified on]
OFW Pass valid until [Valid until]
Agency [Agency]
Source: DMW Department Circulars 01 and 02-2023; DMW Advisories 25 and 38-2025; DC-03-2026; R.A. 8042, 10022, 11641; G.R. 170139; dmw.gov.ph. Contract terms list: POEA 2016 rules, the current list was not found. Checked 02.11.2026. Not legal advice.