THE 2023 JET PROGRAMME PHILIPPINES CHRONICLES: THE FINAL STEP - DepEd Resignation | Japan Instructor VISA Application | DMW Medical | PEOS Certificate | PDOS Certificate | DMW Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC)

 

For the final step of my application, I will be sharing the process of my resignation from my current school to the process of applying for a VISA and an OEC.

RESIGNATION FROM THE KAGAWARAN

I submitted my resignation letter on the 15th of May 2023 to our HR Personnel because she mentioned how it will take some time before I can finish all the things I would need for my resignation. Here is the list of requirements:

1. Indorsement Letter by the School Principal & District Supervisor
2. Basic letter tendering resignation
3. Certificate of Actual Last Day of Service
4. Teacher's Clearance
5. Division Clearance (CSC Clearance)
6. Certificate of No Pending Case from NCR Legal Office
7. Statement of Assets and Liabilities (latest)
8. Performance Rating (latest)
9. Updated Service Records

She said I only need to give her the four highlighted ones and she'll be the one to make the others in italics. She also gave me the school clearance on the same day and I started working on it the day after the next. So from May 17th to May 20th, I went around the school to ask people who were assigned to different offices to sign my clearance. Since I am not an adviser, it took me only a few days to have them all sign my clearance so I was able to give it back to our HR early. She said the service record she requested hasn't arrived yet so I waited for a week for it. 

On May 24th, we received an email from the embassy asking us if we can submit the remaining requirements ahead of time (soft copies only) while waiting for the JET Number and placement information. I decided to send the soft copies of my NBI Clearance, JET Accident Insurance Form, and my Certificate of Health the following day and determined to still wait for the JET Number until the 30th of May before sending the hard copies via Air21.

I went about my day (working at school), checked notebooks, had lectures, gave students a short quiz for Arts, reminded them of the outputs they haven't submitted yet, and then went home. It rained pretty heavily so I didn't have classes for my part-time job. My data was too slow to have video classes. 

While preparing to have dinner, one of our batchmates informed us that he was already contacted by the Board of Education (BoE) he will be working for. He's assigned to Higashiomi, Shiga. Everyone congratulated him and the whole group chat came alive with the excitement of the very first placement news from our batch. They started talking about the requirements for OEC. Haha. I really don't want to think about it yet because I still haven't undergone the DMW medical yet. I'll take things one step at a time so as not to stress myself out. haha. Anyway, I already have most of the documents we will need for the OEC except the ones that will be coming from the embassy and the BoE which I have no idea when I will be given. So, I decided to just let things be for now and sing some songs on TikTok. haha

I was expecting the Placement Information from my BoE by the end of June or early July as mentioned by a Pinoy Sempai from Sendai. To my surprise, my Board of Education ALT General Affairs Advisor sent a Welcome e-mail on June 5th, with about ten attachments. 

I read everything, signed the Statement of Agreement as well as the Written Oath, and sent the scanned copies of these two documents back to her. She also asked me to provide the katakana of my name for official documents and Hanko stamp. 

On June 6th, I received another set of e-mails from her. The first one confirms the receipt of my reply and signed documents. She also asked me to sign the Application for Accommodation and Equipment Leasing Form. I did and sent it back to her. Aside from this form, the e-mail also includes five other attachments: The Pre-departure Handbook (Sendai Alts), Japanese Course Info from CLAIR, and The BoE Apartment Leasing Agreement. Another e-mail is about ISP providers (Sakura and Mobal). We will need a Japanese number once we arrive in Japan so we were advised to apply for one with one of these companies. The third e-mail includes attachments about BOATs and E-learning courses from CLAIR. 

When I went to apply for VISA at the Embassy

I went back to my HR after a week and asked her if I can already start with the Division Clearance. She asked me, "Did you give it to me?" I said yes, and that I submitted everything to her along with my other requirements. She started to panic because she couldn't remember where she put them. lol. She has a lot on her plate so I told her it's okay and that I am not in a rush. She eventually found it and gave me all the documents back again. She said I should just give it back to her when everything is already done. lol.

I went to the Schools Division Office for my division clearance and headed to the following people and offices to have my clearance signed (in this order):

• My Principal
• My Direct Supervisor (Head Teacher)
• Property & Supply Unit 
• Cash Unit
• Legal Department (Division Attorney)
• Payroll Services - RPSU (DepEd NCR Regional Office)
• Personnel Unit
• Accounting and Finance Unit
• Administrative Services

If you are also from the Division of Pasig City, you will have to secure a copy of your Certificate of No Pending Case from the NCR office as well as the Provident Fund Clearance Certificate (which states if you still have or do not have an outstanding provident loan). The Payroll, Personnel, and Accounting Units will ask for these two documents before they sign your clearance. So, make sure you request it from the QR link below:

I submitted the accomplished and signed Division clearance on June 19th. When I gave it to my HR along with the other requirements, she said that I only need to wait and sign the Acceptance Letter of my resignation. Then, I am done with everything on the DepEd end. 

By the way, those who will be working in Japan as an ALT don't need to apply for CFO sticker. Commission on Filipino Overseas Stickers are only required for J1 Exchange Teachers who are going to work in the USA. I am not sure if other countries require it, too. But Japan doesn't. So I need not submit two folders of additional requirements. Yasss!

JAPAN INSTRUCTOR VISA APPLICATION

My three-year Instructor VISA was released today

This one is probably the easiest part of the final step so you don't need to worry about this since JET Participants are hired through the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines. You only need to go to the embassy on the scheduled dates and bring the accomplished VISA Application Form with your Japan VISA Photo ID pasted on it. They will also tell you when to come back to get the VISA. It usually takes only two to three days for it to be released.

GETTING A MEDICAL CERTIFICATE FROM A DMW ACCREDITED CLINIC

There is a list of clinics we can go to to have our DMW medical. But for most of us living around Luzon, we opted to have it at 3STAR Medical Clinic and Diagnostic Center, Inc. which is located below MRT GMA Kamuning Southbound Station. 

We chose the Basic DOH Pre-employment Medical Examination Package for Land-based OFWs. The package costs around P2500. For JET Participants, we had to add an audiometry test which is worth 300 pesos. I decided to have my medical on June 20, 2023. The process was smooth and the doctors and staff were all very accommodating and friendly. I arrived at the clinic around 6:30AM. It was very early since the clinic opens at 8:00AM. My medical certificate was released in the afternoon of the same day. Thank you so much 3STAR!

 PROCESSING THE OVERSEAS EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE 

We will need our Overseas Employment Certificate or OEC on our flight to Japan. It is our EXIT PERMIT required for OFWs. The process took about three days. First, we had to register online at DMW Online Services Portal.

Once logged in,  I uploaded my picture and passport copy at the dashboard part, filled out My Profile information, and added Identifications (Passport, PRC, and Working VISA) and Beneficiaries (Father and brothers). I also bought one-year insurance from Pioneer, then used my e-registration number located just below the picture to read the modules for Pre-employment Orientation Seminar (PEOS) to get my PEOS Certificate.

After downloading the PEOS Certificate, I logged in again on DMW Online Services Portal and click the Direct Hire Link under My Links. I uploaded the Phase I documents:

For the Employment Contract, we combined the JICC Placement Letter, Notice of Appointment as well as Terms and Conditions from our BoE, and the Statement of Agreement and Written Oath we signed back in June. 

After uploading these, I clicked submit and the status says 'For Assignment'. For JET Participants, we went straight to the Direct Hire Section on the second floor of DMW Office, Ortigas. We were given inquiry numbers. at 8AM, our numbers were called. When we told them that we are under JET Programme, they asked for our names because there are some documents listed above that are not required for us to submit (Company Profile, Polo Endorsement Letter, Notarized Statement on how I secured my employment, Employer's Passport, and Notarized Statement Authenticity of Diploma). 

 

A few moments later, our uploaded documents were already checked and evaluated. They said we can already go to the OWWA office to have our Pre-departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) to get our Certificate of Attendance. Our status changed to 'For Appointment'. We were asked to fill out a form and attach a copy of our passport. The seminar started at nine in the morning and ended around eleven. We got our Certificates right after the seminar.

After this, we told the evaluator at the Direct Hire Section that we are already done with PDOS. We waited for a few minutes before we could upload the Phase II documents:

This time we only have to upload the Medical Certificate with Lab Results, PEOS Certificate, Insurance Copy, and PDOS Certificate. They asked for the original copies of the documents submitted and Photocopies of our passport and VISA. They stamped the employment contract with 'Processed and Registered'. They gave the documents back and told us to pay at the cashier on the fifth floor. 

After payment, we can already download our Overseas Employment Certificate. Yay! I am finally doneeee~ Haha Next blog will be about pre-departure preparations!