| BI decentralizes issuance of work, study permits |
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21 January 2008 The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has authorized its alien control officers, starting in four key provincial cities, to issue special work permits and special study permits to foreign applicants in line with its thrust to decentralize its operations and make its services more accessible. Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan issued a memorandum order directing the alien control officers in Laoag, Baguio, Cebu and Davao to accept, process, and approve applications for these permits filed by foreign workers and foreign students who live in or near their respective areas of jurisdiction. “As a result of this decentralized scheme, foreign workers and foreign students sojourning in various parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao need no longer travel all the way to Manila to apply for their work and study permits,” said Libanan. Libanan said the decentralized scheme is being pilot-tested in the cities of Laoag, Baguio, Cebu, and Davao prior to its implementation in other cities of the country. He explained that these four cities were selected because these are the most highly urbanized areas and there is a large concentration of foreign workers and foreign students in these places. “We are also studying the feasibility of further decentralizing and to delegating to our ACOs in the near future the authority to process and approve other immigration documents such as applications for extension of stay of foreign tourists residing in the provinces,” Libanan added. The BI chief also said that the immigration bureau is fast-tracking the completion of its nationwide area network project, saying it is indispensable to the success of the bureau’s decentralization program. Lawyer Floro Balato Jr., the BI spokesman, said the decentralization scheme is part of the visa-issuance-made-simple (VIMS) program that the bureau launched recently to expedite the approval and issuance of all visas and other immigration documents. Balato said that VIMS, which started a week ago, aims not only to cut red tape and eradicate fixing and corruption, but to also to improve the quality of the bureau’s services to the transacting public. “As the frontline agency that caters to the immigration requirements of foreigners who enter the country, it is most imperative that the immigration bureau becomes a showcase of our country’s hospitality and of our government policy welcoming visitors and investors from abroad,” he said. (BI-News) |
