Resident foreigners in PHL urged to file report on or before March 1

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is reminding all resident foreigners in the country that they have only until Tuesday, March 1, to file their annual report to the bureau. Failure to do so would make them liable for sanctions for being undocumented aliens, said Commissioner Ronaldo Ledesma in a statement. Ledesma said there will be no extension of the March 1 deadline as it is not allowed by the law. “The Alien Registration Act of 1950 expressly provides that foreigners must report to the bureau within the first 60 days of every calendar year," he said. Those who will fail to make the annual report on time will be meted administrative fines and/or imprisonment at the discretion of the BI commissioner, Ledesma warned. BI alien registration division (ARD) chief Danilo Almeda said aliens who hold immigrant or non-immigrant visas must make the annual report. Resident foreigners can go either to the BI main office in Intramuros, Manila, or any of its extension, district, subport, or satellite offices throughout the country, Almeda said. An annual report fee of P300 and P10 legal research fee shall be paid by each foreigner to the bureau. The BI earned more than P7 million last year from the payment of an annual report, as more foreigners are opting to stay longer in the country, Almeda said. Almeda advised foreigners to go directly to the cashier’s office so they would not to be victimized by fixers. — KBK, GMA News