SINGAPORE - Their age on their passport is 23 - the minimum age requirement for a domestic maid in Singapore - but they look younger, like teenagers.
It is not known how many foreign domestic workers (FDW) here are under-aged but the practice of falsifying one's age is quite common among developing countries, though not confined to domestic workers, non-government organisations (NGOs) and employment agencies (EA) told Channel NewsAsia.
Driven by poverty or coerced into working overseas, these women allow recruiters to fix their passports.
The lack of documentation and birth certificates, and lax bureaucratic controls make this possible. Employment agencies and NGOs said the incidence is more prevalent among Indonesians.
Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics' (Home) president Bridget Lew said: "Indonesians tend to marry much younger, like around 16, whereas Filipinas marry around 20 ...They need the money for their families and do not think (over-stating their age) is a crime."
However, she pointed out that under-aged FDWs working here are more of an exception than the norm.
Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) president John Gee told Channel NewsAsia that the raising of the minimum age to 23 could have made applicants "more inclined to be dishonest".
Home and TWC2 believe the responsibility lies with employment agencies to do more thorough checks.
But EAs told Channel NewsAsia the burden is too onerous.
A common refrain: Who are we to contest the legality of the passport?
A number of employment agencies told Channel NewsAsia that they rely on their recruiters in the source country to weed out underaged applicants.
"Our recruiters are very careful to follow Singapore's law," said Best Helper's sales manager, who gave his name only as Kelvin.
A few, though, do make trips down to the source country and interview the applicants themselves, such as AUK Management Services' executive consultant, Stephen Chia.
"I observe how she answers my questions, how confident she is. This is in addition to looking at her date of birth in her passport," he said.
Crislo Resources' director Roy Castello told MediaCorp he makes it a point to check an applicant's educational certificates, the "akta lahir" - a family tree record - and identification card.
Even so, both Mr Chia and Mr Castello admit the process is not foolproof.
The Association of Employment Agencies Singapore's (AEAS) vice-president Allan Wee said some employment agents have sent back FDWs that looked too young.
EAs which knowingly bring in an underage FDW will be breaching Employment Agency licensing conditions. They will be given demerit points and placed on a surveillance list. Any further breaches by the EAs, while still on the list, could lead to a suspension of their licence. Those who bring in underage FDWs are also required to repatriate these FDWs and to bear the cost of repatriation.
Mr Wee added: "It's not worth getting into trouble with the government - we could lose our licence."
He added that as competition for FDWs increase, especially from Taiwan and Hong Kong where FDWs are paid more, there have been calls from within the industry to lower the minimum age of FDWs to 21 years.
