VISA

What is a VISA?

• According to Sec. 136 of the Foreign Service Code, visa is a written endorsement made on a travel document or passport by the consular official denoting that the visa application has been properly examined and that the bearer is permitted to proceed to the country of his destination.

What are the TYPES of VISA?• Non-Immigrant– Temporary Visitor– Transient– Seaman– Treaty Trader or Treaty Investor– Foreign Government Official– Student– Pre-Arranged Employment

• Immigrant– Quota– Non-Quota

Non-Immigrant Visas

Temporary Visitors

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(a) A temporary visitor coming for business or for pleasure or for reasons of health;

Temporary Visitor Visa

• Temporary visitors are aliens who come to the Philippines for pleasure, business or health reasons.

• The temporary visitor may only stay for 59 days, which may be extended after registration with the Bureau of Immigration and payment of the necessary fees.

Pre-Entry Visa RequirementAlbania

AfghanistanArmenia

AzerbaijanBelarusBelize

Bosnia-HerzegovinaCambodia

CroatiaCubaEgypt

EstoniaGeorgia

IndiaIranIraq

JordanKazakhstanKyrgyzstan

Laos

LatviaLithuania

MacedoniaModovaNigeria

New Independent States of the Former USSR

North KoreaPalestine

People’s Republic of ChinaSlovenia

SudanSyria

TajikistanTonga

TurkmenistanUkraine

UzbekistanSocialist Republic of Vietnam

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Hong Kong and Macao Cases

• The following are allowed to enter the Philippines without a visa for a stay not exceeding 7 days:– Holders of Hong Kong Special Administrative (SAR)

passports – Holders of British National Overseas (BNO)

passports – Holders of Portuguese Passports issued in Macao – Holders of Macao Special Administrative Region

(SAR) passports

Process and Requirements• Receiving of application with complete documentary requirements

– Valid passport of applicant– Tourist Visa Extension form duly accomplished (BI Form No. MCL 07-

02)– Bureau of Immigration (BI) Clearance Certificate

• Verification of travel and derogatory records, assessment of filing, implementation and other fees and generation of Order of Payment Slip (OPS)

• Releasing of OPS to applicant• Payment to collecting officer and issuance of Official Receipt• Approval of Extension• Updating of records, visa implementation and document archiving• Release of Passport

Non-Immigrant Visas

Transient

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(b) A person in transit to a destination outside the Philippines;

Transient Visa

• A transient refers to a person in transit to a destination outside the Philippines.

• According to Section 42(b) of the Philippine Immigration Act, no fee shall be charged for a passport visa for a non-immigrant in transit to a destination outside the Philippines.

Non-Immigrant Visas

Seamen

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(c) A seaman serving as such on a vessel arriving at a port of the Philippines and seeking to enter temporarily and solely in the pursuit of his calling as a seaman;

Seamen Visa• Seamen are those bona fide foreign seamen or

any foreigner who in good faith is signed on the articles of a vessel arriving at a port of the Philippines from any place outside thereof, employed in any capacity on board such vessel, and seeking to enter the Philippines solely in pursuit of his calling as a seaman, with the intention of departing with the vessel or reshipping on some other vessel that is bound for a foreign port or place. Includes a person serving in any capacity on board a civilian aircraft.

Non-Immigrant Visas

Treaty Traders and Treaty Investors

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(d) Alien businessman. - An alien entitled to enter the Philippines under and in pursuance of the provisions of a treaty of commerce and navigation:

(1) solely to carry on substantial trade principally between the Philippines and the foreign state of which he is a national; or

(2) solely to develop and direct the operations of an enterprise in which, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Philippines he has invested or of an enterprise in which he is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital; and his wife, and his unmarried children under twenty-one years of age, if accompanying or following to join him, subject to the condition that citizens of the Philippines are accorded like privileges in the foreign state of which such alien is a national;

Treaty Trader and Treaty Investor Visas

• A treaty trader is a foreigner who is entering the Philippines solely to carry on trade or commerce between the Philippines and the country of which he is a national pursuant to an existing treaty of commerce and navigation.

• A treaty investor is a foreigner who seeks admission for the purpose of developing and directing operations of an enterprise in the Philippines where: (a) he has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, a substantial amount of capital, or where (b) his employer has invested or is actively in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital: Provided, that such employer is a foreign person or organization of the same nationality as the applicant and that the applicant is of an over-all supervisory or executive capacity.

Countries with PrivilegesAustralia

BangladeshBelgo-Luxemberg

CanadaChileChina

Czech RepublicDenmarkFinlandFrance

GermanyGreeceIndiaIranItaly

Korea

KuwaitLaos

MyanmarNetherlands

PakistanRomania

Russian FederationSaudi Arabia

SpainSwiss Confederation

TaiwanThailandTurkey

United KingdomUnited States

Vietnam

Requirements• Duly notarized letter request from the petitioner • Duly notarized General Application Form accomplished by the

applicant (BI Form No. MCL-07-01)• Certified true copy of SEC Certificate of Registration, Articles of

Incorporation, By-Laws and General Information Sheet, in case of corporation or partnership, or certified true copy of DTI Certificate of Registration of Business Name in case of single proprietorship

• Certified true copy of latest Income Tax Return and Audited Financial Statement stamped “RECEIVED” by the BIR

• Plain photocopy of passport bio and visa page• Original copy of duly notarized contract of employment, or Corporate

Secretary’s Certificate of Election of applicant as corporate officer with details of exact compensation and duration of employment

• Bureau of Immigration Clearance Certificate

Additional Requirements for Dependents

• Copy of marriage contract of applicant and spouse and/or birth certificate of minor unmarried children, NSO-certified or authenticated by the Philippine embassy/consulate in or nearest the place where marriage was solemnized or place of birth, with English translation if written in other foreign language, as the case may be

• Plain photocopies of their respective passports

Process• Receiving of application with complete documentary

requirements• Verification of travel and derogatory records, assessment

of filing, implementation and other fees and generation of Order of Payment Slip (OPS)

• Releasing of OPS to applicant• Payment to collecting officer and issuance of Official

Receipt• Approval of Extension• Updating of records, visa implementation and document

archiving• Release of Passport

Non-Immigrant Visas

Accredited Officials of Foreign Governments

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(e) An accredited official of a foreign government recognized by the Government of the Philippines, his family, attendants, servants, and employees;

Foreign Government Official Visas

• The Director of Visa Division of the Office of the Consular Affairs is authorized to issue re-entry visas under Section 9(e) of the Philippine Immigration Act to foreign diplomats and government officials stationed in the Philippines, including their families and household members.

• According to Section 42(b) of the Philippine Immigration Act, no fee shall be charged for a passport visa for a foreign government official or his family, attendants, servants and employees.

Non-Immigrant Visas

Student

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

( f ) Higher than high school. - A student, having means sufficient for his education and support in the Philippines, who is at least eighteen years of age and who seeks to enter the Philippines temporarily and solely for the purpose of taking up a course of study higher than high school at a university, seminary, academy, college or school approved for such alien students by the Commissioner of Immigration;

Student Visas

• One who is at least 15 years old, with sufficient means to support his education in the Philippines, and who intends to take up a course of study higher that high school in a learning institution which is approved by the Commissioner of Immigration

Exempt Students• Permanent foreign residents (immigrants)• Aliens who have a valid admission status as dependents of treaty

investors or treaty traders, or by declaration of the president• Personnel of foreign diplomatic and consular missions• Personnel of duly accredited international organizations residing in

the Philippines• Aliens who have a valid special investor resident visa• Aliens who have a special resident retiree visa

NOTE: The exemption also extends to the spouse and unmarried dependent children below 21 years old of the foreign student concerned.

Non-Resident Minor Students

• According to Executive Order No. 704, resident children or foreign permanent residents in the Philippines who are above 7 years of age and are coming to the Philippines for the sole purpose of enrolling in any elementary or secondary school in the Philippines may be issued a student visa.

Requirements• Duly notarized letter request from the applicant• Duly notarized General Application Form accomplished by the

applicant (BI Form No. MCL-07-01)• Original copy of the Notice of Acceptance (NOA) containing a clear

impression of the school’s official dry seal or a duly notarized written endorsement from the school for the conversion of the applicant’s status signed by the school’s Registrar

• Original copy of Medical Certificate issued by the Bureau of Quarantine and International Health Surveillance or a government medical institution with competence to certify that the applicant is not afflicted with any dangerous, contagious or loathsome disease and is mentally fit

• Plain photocopy of applicant’s passport bio-page, latest admission and authorized stay

• NICA Clearance• Bureau of Immigration (BI) Clearance Certificate.

Process• Filing of the application duly supported by the documentary requirements

enumerated above and a quick review of their completeness• Verification of travel and derogatory records, assessment of filing and other

fees as well as the systems-generation of the Order of Payment Slip (OPS)• Releasing of the OPS• Payment to collecting officer and issuance of the Official Receipt (OR)

evidencing payment of the required fees• Enrolment of the applicant in the BI-designated biometric kiosk• Preparation of the recommendation by the Student Desk Officer and the

recommending approval by the IRD Chief• Approval of the Visa conversion by the Commissioner• Updating of records, implementation of visa and systems-generation of the

Endorsement for Registration• Releasing of passport and the Endorsement for Registration• Archiving of the documents.

Deportation of Students

• A student is subject to deportation if:– S/he neglects or refuses to attend school to which

s/he was admitted or transferred– S/he is expelled or dropped from such school.

Non-Immigrant Visas

Pre-Arranged Employment

Philippine Immigration Act

Section 9. Aliens departing from any place outside the Philippines, who are otherwise admissible and who qualify within one of the following categories, may be admitted as nonimmigrants:

(g) Prearranged employment. - An alien coming to prearranged employment for whom the issuance of a visa has been authorized in accordance with section twenty of this Act, and his wife, and his unmarried children under twenty-one years of age, if accompanying him or if following to join him within a period of six months from the date of his admission into the Philippines as a nonimmigrant under this paragraph. An alien who is admitted as a nonimmigrant cannot remain in the Philippines permanently. To obtain permanent admission, a nonimmigrant alien must depart voluntarily to some foreign country and procure from the appropriate Philippine consul the proper visa and thereafter undergo examination by the officers of the Bureau of Immigration at a Philippine port of entry for determination of his admissibility in accordance with the requirements.

Pre-Arranged Employment Visas

• This visa is available to foreigners who are proceeding to the Philippines to engage in any lawful occupation for compensation, and where a bona fide employer-employee relationship exists.– Commercial – Missionary

Jurisdictional Facts• According to Section 20(a) of the Philippine

Immigration Act, the following must be established:– The nature of the labor or service for which the visa is

desired– No person can be found in the Philippines who is willing

and competent to perform such labor or service– The length of time of employment– The wages or compensation to be received– The reasons why no other person in the Philippines can be

engaged in such labor or service– The reasons why the admission of the applicant shall be

beneficial to the Philippines– Proof of his valid entry and admission into the Philippines.

Requirements for Commercial Employment

• Duly notarized letter request from the petitioner-organization

• General Application Form duly accomplished and notarized (BI Form No. MCL-07-01)

• Department of Labor and Employment certified true copy of Alien Employment Permit

• Bureau of Immigration Clearance Certificate• Plain photocopy of the applicant’s passport

showing admission and authorized stay.

Requirements for Missionary Employment

• Duly notarized letter request from the petitioner-organization with information of applicant’s place of assignment

• General application form duly accomplished and notarized (BI Form No. MCL-07-01)

• Certified true copy of SEC Certificate of Registration, Articles of Incorporation and By-laws of petitioner

• Certified true copy of missionary credentials;• Bureau of Immigration Clearance Certificate and• Plain photocopy of the applicant’s passport showing

admission status and authorized stay.

Additional Requirements for Dependents

• Copy of marriage contract of applicant and spouse and/or birth certificate of minor unmarried children, NSO-certified or authenticated by the Philippine embassy/consulate in or nearest the place where marriage was solemnized or place of birth, with English translation if written in other foreign language, as the case may be; and

• Plain photocopies of their respective passports.NOTE: The application for pre-arranged employment visa for

the spouse and minor children of the visa holder should be filed within a period of 6 months from the date of his admission into the Philippines as a non-immigrant.

Process• Receiving of application with complete documentary

requirements• Verification of travel and derogatory records, assessment

of filing, implementation and other fees and generation of Order of Payment Slip (OPS)

• Releasing of OPS to applicant• Payment to collecting officer and issuance of Official receipt• Generation of Order of extension and approval of the

Commissioner• Updating of records• Visa implementation and release• Document archiving.

Validity

• This is valid for an initial period of 1 year except bona fide members of religious groups that have existing Memorandum of Agreements with the Bureau which provide, among others, the grant of the visa valid for 2 years. It may be extended for a total maximum period of 10 years.