MANILA, Philippines - More than 61,000 foreigners are enrolled in different schools in the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said yesterday.
Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said a total of 61,601 applications for student visa and special study permit (SSP) were approved last year.
“Foreigners come to our shores to study, and that is a tribute to the good quality of our educational system,” he said.
Lawyer Carlitos Licas Jose, BI Student Clerk head, said of the foreigners studying in the Philippines, 41,497 are SSP holders while 19,654 were issued student visas. A majority of the SSP holders are based in the provinces, he added.
Licas said an SSP is issued to a foreign student below 18 years old in the elementary, secondary, tertiary levels, and those who will enroll in a special course of less than one year.
A student visa is issued to foreigners aged 18 years and above taking up a course higher than high school at a university, seminary, college, or school authorized to admit foreign students, he added.
Of the 19,654 holders of student visas, 4,284 are former tourists, while 15,370 were old students.
A total of 29,462 foreigners applied for SSP with the different BI provincial offices, while 8,846 obtained their SSP from the main office in Manila.
The BI has implemented new and stricter rules in screening student visa and SSP applications.
The new rules require schools to designate a liaison officer to assist foreign enrollees in applying for a visa or SSP.
Only schools accredited by the BI, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Federation of Accrediting Agencies are authorized to accept foreign students.