The Bureau of Immigration (BI) shared that it is ready to implement the streamlined requirements set by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) for departing Filipino tourists.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that they have close coordination with the CFO to address shared concerns.
It can be recalled that in May, the BI and the CFO signed a memorandum of agreement on the shared government information system on migration.
The MOA aims to provide a simplified and more efficient means of processing, collecting, verifying, and sharing information needed by both agencies through system interoperability and real-time data sharing.
In its recent advisory, the CFO stated that starting September 3, as part of their commitment to enhance the delivery of frontline services, Filipino fiancés, spouses, and other partners of foreign nationals holding tourist visas are no longer required to undergo the CFO Guidance and Counseling Program (GCP).
The CFO, however, clarified that the requirements for Filipinos departing with immigrant or with long-term permanent residence visas, fiancé, spouse or partner visas, J1 visa holders bound for the United States of America, and au pair visa holders bound for Europe remain, which requires them to secure the GCP prior to departure.
BI to implement lessened requirements set by CFO
The BI, for its part, stated that they are ready to implement the said policy improvement and have cascaded the said advisory to all its immigration officers in all ports of entry and exit.
“Our immigration officers have been briefed about the streamlined requirements, and are ready to implement the same,” he stated.
Meanwhile, BI is planning on replacing half of its manual counters with electronic gates to increase efficiency of its airport operations.
According to the BI, it follows a 45-second immigration processing time for travelers, adopted from the Guidelines on Advance Passenger Information published jointly by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
While the 45-second standard is intended for check in counters for the manual keying of passenger data, BI has committed and imposed upon itself to process passengers within the said period.
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