20 Sep 2012

Niue Premier denies Immigration Office is no longer issuing work permits to Filipinos

6:28 pm on 20 September 2012

Niue's Premier Toke Talagi denies that the Immigration Office is no longer issuing work permits to Filipinos who want to work on Niue.

This follows reports that Filipinos have been told by the office that no further work permits are being issued to their countrymen or women because of complaints from Niueans about the number of Fillipinos on the island.

However Mr Talagi, who oversees Immigration, says Filipinos are not being targetted.

He says the government is merely implementing the regulations of the new Immigration Act, including on how many people are coming to live in Niue, how many work permits are issued, and how they are issued.

"But we are, as I said, looking at the implementation of the Act which will include reviewing what the work permit requirements are. We've got to ensure that the set of rules we put in place is understood by both the people who wish to come and ourselves... so everybody is aware so that there are no legal issues afterwards."

Toke Talagi