Pointwest Sponsorship: Pointwest Sponsors U.S. Embassy Public Service Forum
Kat Dacusin
October 14, 2019
Pointwest, leading IT company in the Philippines, served as one of the key sponsors of the U.S. Embassy Public Service Forum held on October 3, 2019, at the AIM Conference Center, Makati City. The forum was organized by The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc.
One of the main aims of the forum is to educate the public about U.S. visas, such as Non-Immigrant (Tourist and Business) and Immigrant (Permanent Resident) visas. In 2018 alone, the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines issued 204,137 non-immigrant visas, 32,123 immigrant visas, 5,919 fiancé visas, and 929 student visas, reflecting great interest from Filipinos to travel to the states for tourism, business, education, or personal reasons.
The forum also tackled services provided by the U.S. Embassy for American citizens residing in the Philippines. These include offerings by the following units of the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Manila: American Citizens Services (ACS), and the Social Security Administration/Federal Benefits Unit (SSA/FBU).
ACS provides services and protection to U.S. Citizens in the Philippines. For 2018, they processed 14,653 regular passports, 683 emergency passports, and 11,107 notarial services.
On the other hand, SSA/FBU handles the distribution of Social Security Benefits, including retirement, survivors, and disability. In the Philippines alone, approximately 35,000 beneficiaries receive around $360 million worth of benefit payments per year. This number is a significant chunk of the $1.5 billion given each year to more than 150,000 beneficiaries per year in 43 countries across Asia and the Pacific.
Pointwest was represented at the event by Pointwest Executive Director Leo Querubin. According to him, events like this help more people understand the kind of work embassies do, especially in promoting the growth of businesses, industries, and economies by facilitating safe and legitimate entry for its migrant workers and maintaining diplomatic ties between the two countries.
“Pointwest is continuously expanding its global reach to better spread its thrust to promote the Filipino brand of IT”, Querubin said. “We regularly send our people abroad when our foreign clients need them, so Pointwest is a firsthand witness to the role embassies play.”
About Pointwest
Pointwest is an IT company in the Philippines. Founded in 2003 by pioneers of the Philippine Global Sourcing industry, Pointwest creates value for its list of satisfied clients — including top Fortune 100 and local companies — with world-class digital innovation and IT modernization services backed by international-standard methodologies, and innovative practices.
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