Immigration official wants stricter rules on foreigners

By Yahoo! Southeast Asia Editors – August 13th, 2010

 

By KC Santos, loQal.ph
QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA – To further monitor foreigners entering the Philippines, a more stringent entry process should be implemented by the country’s immigration bureau.
Bureau of Immigration legal chief Atty. Bienvenido Chy said this will allow the bureau to keep track of foreigners, particularly those that are overstaying.
“Once inside the airport, foreigners should fill-up the arrival cards, complete with their address so we can determine their length of stay in the country and easily track them,” he said.
One popular way of entering the country is through student visas. Section 9 of the Philippine Immigration law says a student visa may be granted to a foreigner who wishes to pursue his or her studies in the country through the endorsement of the Department of Education and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
But Chy revealed that there have been reports that some foreign visitors have been using student visas to enter the country and operate illegal business establishments instead of going to schools.
“Bureau directors are now designated to different areas where they officiate the conducting of census to determine the number of overstaying foreigners,” Chy said.
Chy said the computerization of the bureau is also helping officials track and summon overstaying immigrants based on the information they wrote on the arrival cards.
Overstaying immigrants will be subject to deportation if they are a “no-show” after being “invited.”
Chy, meanwhile, reported that there has been a decrease in the number of foreign detainees in the country from 173 cases to 68 cases.
The official added that once the necessary clearances are forwarded to the bureau regarding pending cases, the foreign detainees will all be deported.
“We now coordinate with their respective embassies so they can shoulder the costs of taking back the detainees to their respective countries,” Chy said.
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