keeping helper's passport?
- Thread starter MeowMeow
- Start date
- Status
Hi MeowMeow,
You can not keep your helper's PASSPORT, it's illegal, you know why i know? my prevoius employer working as Immigration officer and he told me about this, it's so happened that i had a friend who is the employer wanted to keep her passport and begging me to ask this to my boss as they know that he's an immigration officer and that's it, he told me that Passprt is our GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES, not any other.
Hope it will help you.
You can not keep your helper's PASSPORT, it's illegal, you know why i know? my prevoius employer working as Immigration officer and he told me about this, it's so happened that i had a friend who is the employer wanted to keep her passport and begging me to ask this to my boss as they know that he's an immigration officer and that's it, he told me that Passprt is our GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES, not any other.
Hope it will help you.
Last edited:
rani
Administrator
i know some employers keep them cos they're afraid their helpers may use it to get a loan. i heard there was a helper in our complex that managed to get the passport of a few of her friends and secured a substantial loan without their consent. i gave our helper a long lecture on trusting people in HK when she arrived. there are a lot of people who will take advantage of new helpers
i have a previous helper who did exactly as rani has said. but yes, keeping their passport is illegal, BUT that is still what agents are recommending. my previous helper (she was fired after a long episode, this was just 3 months ago) lied and told us that she needed her passport to apply for some filipino document, we gave it to her as it is illegal afterall to keep her passport.
she ended up borrowing 10's of thousands of dollars, AND on top of that because lending agencies won't lend her so much, she managed to have loans under ALL of my extended families' maids (my other maid, my mom's maid, my grandmother's maid), it's really crazy, she didn't even need their passport to do that, just their names, info and consent. she has outstanding loans when we fired her, and we ended up having to repaid part of her loans, especially the ones involving the maids we know. a lot of them will do things like that when their 'friends' as them to help them borrow.
still, i'm not that uptight about keeping their passports, but would like to share, so people would understand where the risks are if you don't do that.
she ended up borrowing 10's of thousands of dollars, AND on top of that because lending agencies won't lend her so much, she managed to have loans under ALL of my extended families' maids (my other maid, my mom's maid, my grandmother's maid), it's really crazy, she didn't even need their passport to do that, just their names, info and consent. she has outstanding loans when we fired her, and we ended up having to repaid part of her loans, especially the ones involving the maids we know. a lot of them will do things like that when their 'friends' as them to help them borrow.
still, i'm not that uptight about keeping their passports, but would like to share, so people would understand where the risks are if you don't do that.
Enforceable?
That sounds really scarry. Did all those helpers who "lent" their name to their friend need to sign any contract when their "so called" friend borrowed money from the banks?
I hope it is impossible for banks to lend money to anybody merely based on some names and info the lender provides. Having said that, has anyone experienced these kind of nonsense before? How did you tackle that situation?
That sounds really scarry. Did all those helpers who "lent" their name to their friend need to sign any contract when their "so called" friend borrowed money from the banks?
I hope it is impossible for banks to lend money to anybody merely based on some names and info the lender provides. Having said that, has anyone experienced these kind of nonsense before? How did you tackle that situation?
Regardless of what your helper may use their passport for, it is illegal to keep it. I think the rule of thumb shoul be - how would you feel of your employer.....? For example, if your employer said to you - ' Give me your passport, I will keep it,' you would know straight away that what they were asking was illegal and refuse to let them have it. So why should anyone have the right to keep their helpers passport?
- Status