You report, or we deport! Immigration chief lays down law to foreigners

report

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has warned that foreigners who fail to report for annual registration will be deported from the Philippines.

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The strict policy comes as the BI confirmed that the application deadline will not be extended, and remains set at Friday, March 3.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente also said that foreigners who failed to report could also be fined or imprisoned. “Undocumented foreigners or overstaying aliens must leave the country or otherwise they would be locked up in jail before being deported,” he warned.

“As of January 26, a total 50,414 aliens have made their annual report as required under Republic Act 562 or the Alien Registration Act of 1950,” he added.

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BI data shows that there are more than 500,000 foreigners living in the Phillipines.

Morente said of the 50,000 who already registered, nearly half did so at the main BI office in Intramuros, Manila, while the rest paid their fees in one of the 49 bureau offices nationwide.

The alien registration act provides that all registered foreign nationals must make their annual report within the first 60 days of every calendar year. The report fee is 300 pesos, with a “legal research fee” of 10.

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Parents or legal guardians are responsible for registering children under the age of 14.

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Full text of the BI’s official notice:

Notice to all Registered Aliens Re: Annual Report (AR) 2017 

To implement the AR 2017, all registered aliens shall, within the first sixty (60) days of every calendar year, report in person to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Main office at Intramuros, Manila, or to the nearest participating BI offices. The Annual Report 2017 shall be held from 03 January to 03 March 2017.

The parent or legal guardian of an alien who is less than fourteen (14) years of age shall have the duty of reporting for such alien. Failure to comply shall result in imposition of administrative fine and/or imprisonment, at the option of the Commissioner of Immigration.

An alien may be exempt from personal appearance, provided, the alien (i) personally appeared in at least one of the Annual Reports held in 2014, 2015, or 2016 with an accomplished AR form; (ii) presentment of official receipt of latest Annual Report Fee paid; (iii) payment of P500 express lane for non-appearance; (iv) presentment of a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) with valid government-issued ID of legal representative; (v) presentment of a valid passport; and (vi) undertaking to fulfill obligations (in case of aliens with CA 613 and/or RA 562 related liabilities).

The reportee shall present: (i) original ACR I-card and (ii) confirmation number issued via AR 2017 online system (for aliens who failed to accomplish AR 2014 form and AR 2015/2016 online form).

An alien who returns to the Philippines with a re-entry permit shall, if he/she has not yet made the required annual report, make such report within thirty (30) days from the date of his/her return to this country, no fines shall be imposed.

In addition, personal appearance shall be required for all Native-born Indonesians with paper based Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) distinguished as “Illegal Entrants” under Memorandum order No. AFFJR-05-003 in Southern Mindanao for the updating of registration records (IOO Section XIII k).

AR application forms and guidelines in the conduct of AR 2017, list of participating BI offices, AR 2017 online encoding system and all other information regarding AR 2017 shall be found in the BI website www.immigration.gov.ph and posted in all BI offices. All aliens are encouraged to report and remit payments at the AR 2017 BI designated offices.

The implementation of the Annual Report 2017 will be based on the guidelines of the 2016 Annual Report. In addition, per Operations Order JHM-2016-005, BI SM Aura Satellite Office is now included in the list of authorized offices to process AR 2017.

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