BI eases rules for entry of ASEAN delegates

Over 300 Chinese nationals earlier arrested in Clark, Pampanga already deported—BI (Photo: Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has relaxed its rules on arriving foreign delegates to the ongoing series of preliminary meetings for the forthcoming Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) leaders’ summit.

In a memorandum issued on Monday, Commissioner Jaime Morente directed the conduct of “less restrictive” immigration formalities for ASEAN delegates and their companions, such as their spouses and dependents.

With this, the BI is waiving the imposition of the six-month rule on passport validity, which means any ASEAN delegate can be admitted even if the latter’s passport is valid for less than six months.

Likewise, arriving guests will no longer required to procure a return or outbound plane ticket, which is normally imposed on foreign tourists who come here for business or pleasure.

On the other hand, Marc Red Mariñas, BI’s acting port operations chief added that foreign delegates who have no entry visa (for visa-required nationals) and those whose names might appear in the bureau’s derogatory list, they shall not be automatically excluded or turned back to their port of origin.

He noted that the immigration supervisor on duty should conduct secondary inspection on the passenger and seek guidance or instruction for his superiors on what action to take.

In such cases, the passenger concerned, at the option of the BI commissioner, may be issued a waiver of exclusion ground, an allow entry order or an order of non-admission, he added.

Earlier, Morente has created a special task group composed of close to 100 personnel to ensure that proper immigration formalities and port courtesies are extended to the ASEAN delegates.

It is composed of 95 immigration officers, immigration supervisors and intelligence agents from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other ports.

Aside from the Philippines, the other member countries of the ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Brunei.