Agency kept passport and she has to pay $3000 a month to agency for 7 months

I have just picked up my indo helper who speaks little english, the Agency who has a indo speaker at the office that translates has kept her passport. On the drive home she became worried that she had left her passport at the office. They had explained to me that they were keeping it for the purpose of ensuring she would not take a loan while in HK. In the car it was obvious that they had not explained this properly to her, the look of horror on her face was evident when she realised she had left it. . She also has to pay $3000 a month to agency for 7 months for her training back in indo. Are these high fees?


Thanks for your time.

That is the standard fee that most girls have to pay.

It is true that keeping the passport and charging an outrageous fee is standard practice but it is also true that it is completely illegal under HK law: a job placement agency can charge at most 10% of the first month's salary. The problem is that the Indonesian consulate actually goes to bat for these agencies by refusing to process the paperwork of any helper who attempts to renew a contract or change employers after declining to pay this illegally extorted fee.

you should go back to the agency and demand that they hand the passport over to the helper as it is her property. as dansande says, it is illegal for them to keep her passport, just as it is illegal for the employer to lock up the passport once at home.


the 'training fee' of 21,000 is simple extortion by the indonesian govt, trying to cash in on the growing FDH trade in that country; they charge this fee to agencies who want to bring novice helpers to HK; the agency then passes this cost on to the helper; you can find agencies that DON"T charge this fee by only representing seasoned helpers...this is a one-time fee, so a helper who has worked in HK before is not subject to this fee...try to hire someone in this situation, NOT a fresh helper from Indo