The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that despite the pandemic the agency still managed to collect nearly P5.9 billion in 2020.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente disclosed that last year’s total revenue from immigration fees is P5.88 billion, 36.1-percent less compared to the record high income of P9.3 billion the Bureau posted in 2019.
“We anticipated our revenues to decrease due to the pandemic,” said Morente. “With more foreign nationals going out of the country than going in, we were able to collect less revenue from visa applications,” he shared.
Morente added that transactions in the Bureau were suspended for more than two months after the government declared a lockdown in March last year, thus causing the Bureau’s revenue collections to nosedive.
Morente, however, said the Bureau expects its revenue collection efforts to gradually return to normal this year as the country awaits the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine and once international travel restrictions are gradually lifted.
BI posted P5.9-B income in 2020 despite pandemic
According to BI Finance Chief Judith Ferrera, the Bureau was poised to post another record high income in 2020 if the pandemic did not occur.
Ferrera said the Bureau started the year on a very positive note as its collections in January and February amounted to P1.8 billion but revenues dropped to P480 million in March with the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the entire Luzon.
Ferrera bared that the BI sources the bulk of its revenues from visa processing and extension fees, fines and penalties, clearance and certification taxes, and immigration tax.
Last month, BI reported a significant decrease in those applying for a tourist visa extension.
Below is the press release of BI posted on their Facebook account.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported a 45-percent drop in the number of applications for tourist visa extension for the year 2020.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente disclosed that the Bureau’s Tourist Visa Section (TVS) processed a total of 240,276 applications for extension of stay of tourists, which is 44.67-percent lower than the 434,251 similar applications it received in 2019.
Source: Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines