More foreigners than ever registered with Bureau of Immigration this year

foreigners
The Bureau of Immigration has revealed that more than a third of all foreigners who reported being residents of the Philippines were from China, and that more than two thirds of all reports were made within Metro Manila this year.

More than 148,000 foreigners living in the Philippines — about a third of them Chinese — reported to the Bureau of Immigration this year.

Under the 1951 Alien Registration Act, resident foreigners are obliged to report to the bureau within the first 60 days of every calendar year.

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A total of 148,387 people complied with this from January 1 to March 2, Immigration Alien Registration Division Chief Jose Carlitos Licas said in a statement today (Sunday, March 24).

The number is up by more than six thousand on last year, when 142,319 reported.

Of this year’s total, by far the most numerous nationality was Chinese, with 56,015. They were followed by 26,533 Indians, 10,566 Americans, 8,557 Taiwanese and 8,157 South Koreans.

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Also in the top-10 list were people from Japan, Indonesia, the UK, Vietnam and Germany.

Of all those who reported, 59,339 were holders of working visas, said the bureau. Others reported themselves as foreign students, native-born foreigners and those married to Philippine citizens, it added.

Mr Licas said that nearly 100,000 of those who reported went to the BI’s main office in Manila’s Intramuros and its satellite offices in Taguig and Makati City.

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The other BI offices which saw a large number of reporting foreigners were those in Cebu, Davao and Clark.

Those who were abroad during the reporting period can still file within 30 days of returning to the country, provided that they have valid re-entry permits.

People who fail to make their annual report are liable for deportation and being blacklisted from returning to the Philippines.

For further information about the bureau’s policies and guidelines, visit the BI’s website at www.immigration.gov.ph.

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