Slovak engineering plants — structural steel, machinery, automotive suppliers, the metal shops around Žilina, Trenčín, Považská Bystrica and Košice — compete for welders and machinists with Czech and Austrian plants across the border. The Philippines trains them in volume and tests them to European procedures before they fly. This page covers the trades, how we test them, and how the Slovak route runs for a metal crew.
Welders in MAG, MIG, TIG and MMA, CNC machinists and setters on lathes, mills and machining centres, fitters and assemblers, press-brake, laser and robot-cell operators and quality inspectors are recruited on temporary residence for employment, with the labour-market test waived where the occupation is on the regional shortage list and the plant's share of third-country nationals is under 45 % — the case for most metal trades in the industrial regions in most quarters. At our Makati workshop welders weld coupons to your welding procedure specification in the positions your schedule requires, bend or macro tested, with drawing reading and measuring; machinists edit a programme, set up and produce a first-off to drawing on the control you run; fitters assemble to drawing; your production manager watches live and interviews the same day. Coding to EN ISO 9606-1 is completed in Slovakia on the same parameters.
A Slovak employer hires a Filipino on a temporary residence permit for the purpose of employment under § 23 of Act 404/2011: the employer notifies the vacancy to the labour office (ÚPSVaR) at least 20 working days before the residence application is filed, the labour office issues a confirmation that the vacancy may be filled by a third-country national — without a labour-market test when the job is a shortage occupation in the region on the quarterly ÚPSVaR list and the employer employs fewer than 45 % third-country nationals — and the Foreign Police decide on the residence within 60 days of a complete application — 30 days where the job is on the kraj shortage list and the employer meets the statutory condition (§ 33(8) Act 404/2011; 90 days is the general period for other residence purposes) (fee €250; renewal €140; residence card €10 or €39 for the two-day service). Since 15 July 2026 the permit is a single document for stay and work, the decision deadline runs from a complete application, the national visa issued for collecting the permit is valid 120 days, and a worker who loses the job has three months (six after two years' residence) to find another. The point most employers miss: a Filipino does not file in Manila. Residents of the Philippines apply for the Slovak national visa in person at the Slovak Embassy in Jakarta, which decides in five to seven working days; the Czech Embassy in Manila represents Slovakia for short-stay Schengen visas only.
Filipino welders come from shipyards, export-zone fabrication shops and Gulf plants with TESDA SMAW, GMAW and GTAW NC II and years on structural and pressure work; machinists from the export zones' precision shops with Machining NC II–III and two- or three-year mechanical technology programmes, used to Fanuc, Siemens and Heidenhain controls and to first-article documentation. English is the working language; Slovak safety vocabulary is briefed in Manila and the plants that want it arrange Slovak courses.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Vienna, which has covered Slovakia since October 2024, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist. Your company is the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.
Everything here is subject to Act No. 404/2011 Coll. on the residence of aliens and Act No. 5/2004 Coll. on employment services as amended (Acts 151/2025 and 128/2026), the quarterly ÚPSVaR shortage list, the Slovak consular practice for Philippine residents and Philippine DMW rules.
Pre-tested to your WPS in Makati; EN ISO 9606-1 coding is completed in Slovakia on the same parameters.
In the industrial regions they usually are; the list is quarterly and regional, and we check your codes for the quarter in which the vacancy is notified.
Fanuc, Siemens and Heidenhain predominantly, from the export zones' precision shops; we test on the control you run.
Four to six months to the first cohort — notification, selection and the Jakarta visa in parallel, then the Foreign Police decision within 60 days of a complete file (30 days on the kraj shortage track).
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.