More than 30 foreign maids working illegally in the city have been ordered to be deported by Shanghai immigration authorities, officials said yesterday.

The maids, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, had found jobs through an agency on Hongqiao Road in Changning District, said Shanghai Entry-Exit Administrative Bureau. Officials would not disclose the name of the agency, which had an office overseas and had been operating since August.

The maids had found work with families in Shanghai and in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, with the agency posting their details online, said Zhang Xinguang, a bureau official. "If the client select a maid, the agency arranged her travel to the city," he said.

Maids paid the agent 2,000 yuan (US$293) every month for the first six months in fees but most were working on a one-month tourist visa.

"China has not opened its household service industry to foreign workers," Zhang said. "Thus it's illegal to bring foreign maids to work here. Maids cannot legally obtain a working visa."

Changning District Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau has fined the agency for operating illegally, officials said.

(Shanghai Daily September 7, 2009)