THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) has relaxed its requirements for departing foreigners as it announced yesterday that foreign nationals can now leave the country even without their Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Cards (I-Cards).
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the order allowing foreign nationals to leave the country even without their I-Cards is part of the measure taken by the agency to prevent overcrowding in immigration officers.
Morente said they will also no longer require departing foreigners to secure ACR I-Card waiver orders.
The new policy, Morente said, would be effective until the end of 2020. This may be revoked earlier or extended depending on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“By allowing these aliens to leave pending release of their I-Cards, the number of people going to our offices would be lessened and physical distancing will be achieved, thus, preventing the further spread of the virus among our frontline personnel and clients,” Morente said.
Earlier, the BI said 78 of its personnel have been contracted the COVID-19 virus. Of the figure, 29 have already recovered while only one remains confined at the hospital. The rest are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and are currently housed in quarantine facilities while waiting for their recovery.
BI Port Operations division chief Grifton Medina said that instead of the I-Card waiver order, departing foreigners will be asked to present their passports with the required visa implementation stamps and official receipts of payments for their ACR I-Card waiver application fee, Emigration Clearance Certificate, Reentry Permit and/or Special Return Certification.
“The passenger will also be advised to safekeep the copies of his or her official receipts as the same should be presented to our immigration officer upon his/her return to the Philippines,” Medina said.
The BI in March allowed foreigners with approved visas to leave without I-Cards when Luzon was placed under the modified enhanced community quarantine and the bureau has to scale down its operations.
The agency resumed issuing the cards and waiver orders in June after it launched its online appointment system when Metro Manila was placed under the less restrictive general community quarantine.
The surge in positive cases among its rank-and-file employees, however, has again prompted the BI to ease the requirement for departing foreigners so they would not crowd its offices just to get the said cards.
