There will be no more delays in registering aliens at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as the agency issued new guidelines in processing applications for alien certificate of registration identity card (ACR-I-Card).

 

            BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. issued last June 1 a memorandum circular prescribing the new rules which prescribe a period of only five days for processing and issuing ACR I-Card applications.

 

            The memorandum provides that “in no case shall the entire ACR I-Card application process exceed five working from the date of the filing of the application.”

 

            It states that any “delay or deviation’ from the said timeline shall result in the imposition of disciplinary action against the responsible and erring BI employee.

            Aside from setting a timeline, the circular prescribes the documentary requirements that a support must submit in support of his or her I-Card application.

 

            It specifically directs the BI central receiving unit not to accept an application unless all the requirements are submitted by the applicant.

 

            David said the new rules were promulgated as the perennial problem of delays in I-Card issuance has been a constant source of grievance of applicants, including organizations of foreigners in the country.

 

            The BI chief stressed the need to overhaul existing practices that caused the delays and thus achieve the objectives of the I-Card project to modernize and improve the efficiency and security of the bureau’s alien registration system.       

 

Lawyer Ronaldo Ledesma, BI acting alien registration chief, welcomed the new rules as it “finally cures the problem and plugs the loopholes” in the I-Card application process.

 

Ledesma also said that with the new guidelines in place, his office can now “minimize backlog and act on I-Card applications with utmost dispatch and efficiency.”

 

“Also, the integrity of our alien registration system is now enhanced as we are now capable of uncovering the identities of foreigners who were issued I-Cards without proper documentation or whose registration were previously cancelled or revoked,” Ledesma added.###