The Bureau of Immigration (BI) urged relatives and acquaintances of foreign nationals residing in the country who have died to report their deaths to the Bureau so it can update its records and cancel these late aliens’ registration.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente explained that under the 1950 alien registration act, the parents or relatives or persons in charge of the burial of a deceased alien are required to surrender the latter’s alien certificate of registration identity card (ACR I-Card) to the BI.
Thus, he said it is the obligation of said relatives or friends of deceased aliens to report their deaths to the BI.
Morente added that these deceased aliens’ ACR I-Cards should be surrendered to the BI’s registration officers at the Bureau’s Alien Registration Division (ARD) for cancellation and deactivation.
The BI chief stressed that reporting of deceased aliens to the BI is vital in properly monitoring the presence of aliens in the country and help the government formulate policies and actions in determining potential threats to public safety and public health amidst the pandemic.
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Morente reminds kin of deceased aliens to report such deaths to BI
According to Atty. Jose Carlitos Licas, Immigration alien registration chief, the term “person in charge” refers also to owners and/or operators of funeral parlors, cryo-regeneration facilities, cemeteries, crypts and crematoria.
“Our Bureau is mandated by law to monitor the arrival, presence, activities, departure, re-entry and even death of aliens, whether they are staying in the country legally or illegally,” Licas stressed.
It was learned that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the BI has not received any report of deaths of foreign nationals.
Records also show that as of January 2021, only 1,222 ACR I-Cards were cancelled by reason of deaths of aliens.
Licas also said that reporting of aliens’ deaths will enable the Immigration to inform the concerned embassies of their deceased nationals.
Source: Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines