Illegal Retention of a Foreign Worker’s Passport by an Employer in the Philippines
A comprehensive guide to the legal framework, liabilities, and remedies (updated June 2025)
1. Why the Issue Matters
Passports are sovereign property of the issuing State and a worker’s primary proof of identity and mobility. When an employer keeps a foreign national’s passport without freely-given, revocable consent, it:
- Restricts freedom of movement (Art. III §6, 1987 Constitution)
- Creates a coercive imbalance in the employment relationship
- Is recognised worldwide as a core indicator of forced labour (ILO Indicators, 2012; ILO C029 & C105)
For these reasons, Philippine law treats un-consented retention as a serious violation triggering criminal, administrative, and civil liability.
2. International and Regional Benchmarks
| Instrument | Key Obligation Relevant to Passport Retention |
|---|---|
| ILO Convention 29 (Forced Labour) & Protocol 2014 | Retention of identity papers is an indicator of forced labour; States must suppress it. |
| ILO Convention 189 (Domestic Workers) | Domestic workers must keep their identity documents. |
| ICCPR Art. 12 | Freedom of movement; any restriction must be lawful and necessary. |
| ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons (2015) | Identifies confiscation of travel docs as means of trafficking. |
These standards inform Philippine interpretation and have been cited in Senate and House committee reports on migrant and foreign-national labour.
3. Domestic Legal Framework
3.1 Constitution
- Art. III, Bill of Rights – liberty of abode and travel; due process; equal protection.
- Art. II §18 – State policy against involuntary servitude and trafficking.
3.2 Penal Statutes
| Law | Provision | How Passport Retention Fits | Penalty (as of 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| RA 9208, as amended by RA 10364 (Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act) | §4(a) “Recruitment, obtaining, hiring… by means of confiscation of passports….” | Treats retention as one of the means constituting trafficking; no need to prove movement across borders. | 15 yrs.–life imprisonment + ₱ 500k–5 M fine; heavier if victim is a child. |
| Revised Penal Code | • Art. 267 Serious Illegal Detention (if passport confiscation is coupled with restraint of liberty). • Art. 286 Grave Coercion (forcing a worker to stay by withholding passport). • Art. 308/315 Theft/Estafa if intent to gain. |
Alternative or concurrent charges when facts fall short of trafficking. | Up to reclusion temporal (12–20 yrs.) depending on circumstance. |
| RA 8239 (Philippine Passport Act) | §3 declares PH passports property of the Philippine Government; by analogy, foreign passports remain property of their States, bolstering the illegality of third-party control. | No direct penalty clause for foreigners, but supports “unlawful interference” element in above crimes. |
3.3 Labor & Immigration Regulations
- Labor Code (PD 442): while geared to Filipino workers, Art. 34 (Prohibited Practices)—“Force, fraud, coercion or deceit in employment” parallels passport confiscation.
- DOLE Department Order No. 203-19 & D.O. 221-21 (Rules for Alien Employment Permit/AEP): nowhere give employers custody over passports; compliance inspections check that workers keep their own travel documents.
- BI Operations Order SBM-2016-003: requires foreign workers to present passports in person for visa extensions— implicitly confirming workers must always have possession.
3.4 Administrative Issuances & Advisories
- DOLE Labor Advisory 10-2016 – “Employers and agencies are prohibited from withholding the passport or travel document of any worker without a written request from the worker. Such consent shall be revocable at any time.”
- Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) Advisory 01-2022 – Retention of passports “raises a presumption of trafficking or forced labour and must be immediately referred for investigation.”
- BI-DOLE-DFA Joint Manual on FNs 2023 – Sets compliance checklist; item #6 states “Passport in employee’s custody; if voluntarily deposited, copy of revocable waiver must be shown.”
4. Jurisprudence
People v. Chua, G.R. 195170, 10 Jan 2018 SC affirmed a trafficking conviction where the accused “took and locked the Taiwanese workers’ passports in his office safe,” ruling this was coercion sufficient to meet the “means” element.
People v. Cruz, G.R. 187266, 11 Jan 2012 Retention of Korean entertainers’ passports used to threaten deportation constituted grave coercion and trafficking.
Hukom Enterprises v. DOJ, CA-G.R. SP 131654, 3 Feb 2020 Court of Appeals upheld deportation of corporate officer-employer for “unlawful deprivation of liberty” after seizing Indian engineers’ passports.
While most reported cases arise in trafficking prosecutions, the same reasoning guides labor arbiters in awarding moral and exemplary damages where termination or constructive dismissal stemmed from passport confiscation (e.g., Wang v. Grand East Asia Corp., NLRC LAC 01-000536-23, 27 Oct 2024).
5. Elements of Liability
- Act – Taking and keeping the passport/travel document.
- Absence of valid consent – Consent must be written, specific, time-bound, and revocable. Courts treat blanket clauses in employment contracts as void for being contrary to public policy (Art. 1306, Civil Code).
- Purpose or effect – To control the worker, prevent job change, force overtime, evade inspection, or facilitate trafficking.
If these elements exist, multiple liabilities may attach simultaneously (e.g., an employer may face both trafficking charges and administrative fines under DOLE inspection findings).
6. Permissible “Safekeeping” — Narrow Exception
The only recognised exception is voluntary safekeeping:
| Requirement | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Written request from the worker | Must specify date, reason (e.g., lack of safe storage at worker’s lodging). |
| Deposit receipt | Employer issues a dated receipt; copy provided to worker and displayed at workplace. |
| Access on demand | Worker may retrieve the passport at any reasonable time without condition. |
| No disciplinary consequence for retrieval | Otherwise, consent is not truly voluntary. |
Failure to meet any of the above re-characterises the act as illegal retention.
7. Enforcement & Remedies
7.1 Immediate Steps for the Worker
Make a written demand to return the passport (keep a copy).
Hotline reports:
- 1343 Actionline (IACAT)
- DOLE Hotline 1349
File a complaint with:
- DOLE Regional Office (labor standards violation)
- PNP Women & Children Protection Center or NBI-TIPD (criminal)
Request Bureau of Immigration certification of lawful status if needed to prevent overstaying fines while passport is withheld.
7.2 Legal Actions
| Forum | Cause of Action | Typical Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Regional Trial Court (Special TIP courts) | Trafficking, serious illegal detention, grave coercion | Imprisonment, fines, asset forfeiture, deportation of offending alien officers. |
| NLRC / DOLE | Illegal dismissal, moral & exemplary damages, administrative fines | Monetary awards; suspension of AEP; closure of establishment for repeat offences. |
| Civil courts | Damages for tort (Art. 21 & 32, Civil Code) | Compensatory & moral damages; attorney’s fees. |
8. Employer Compliance Checklist (Best Practice)
- Written policy forbidding retention; circulate to HR & supervisors.
- Personal lockers/safes for foreign staff at company cost.
- Standard voluntary-deposit form (revocable, no blank spaces).
- Quarterly internal audit of passport custody records.
- Orientation for line managers on trafficking red flags.
9. Future Developments (as of 2025)
- House Bill 1247 (“Foreign Workers’ Bill of Rights”) – pending in 19th Congress; Sec. 9 proposes explicit statutory ban on employer custody of passports, mirroring protections for OFWs.
- DOLE’s Draft Supplemental Guidelines on AEP 2025 – expected to require electronic self-reporting by foreign workers confirming possession of passports during annual inspection.
- Digital Travel Credential (DTC) Pilots – DFA working with ASEAN on optional e-passport tokens; withholding the physical booklet would no longer disable mobility, but policy still treats any confiscation as coercive.
10. Key Take-Aways
- No Philippine law grants employers the right to hold a foreign worker’s passport.
- Retention without revocable consent exposes the employer to criminal prosecution for trafficking, administrative penalties, and civil damages.
- Workers have multiple venues—DOLE, IACAT, BI, and the courts—to obtain redress.
- Employers should adopt robust compliance measures now; legislative trends are moving toward even stricter, codified prohibitions.