BI extends deadline for I-Card application

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced yesterday it has extended to Nov. 14 the deadline for foreigners to secure their I-Card, a microchip-based document that proves the legality of their stay in the country.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said he ordered the extension for the application and processing of the travel document for another 94 days to give foreigners "one final chance to comply with the new requirement."

The BI earlier set an Aug. 13 deadline. But Fernandez said they wanted to achieve "optimum compliance" with the new alien registration system.

Fernandez said it would be the final extension of the deadline, reiterating his warning that all foreigners who fail to apply for an I-Card after Nov. 14 would be arrested and subjected to deportation.

BI technical assistant for alien registration Manuel Ferdinand Arbas said they would check their records and strictly impose both the Immigration Act of 1940 and Alien Registration Law of 1950, which state that improperly documented foreigners must be arrested and deported back to their respective homelands.

Arbas revealed there are over 83,000 foreigners who filed applications for the I-Card as of Friday. He said 48,000 of these applications have been approved. The bureau’s registration officers continue to process and verify the rest.

The BI official said they are carefully reviewing all applications to prevent illegal aliens from obtaining the document.

The I-Card project was launched last year in line with the bureau’s thrust to go "paperless" to provide better, faster services to foreigners staying in the country.

As a result, the BI stopped issuing the paper-based alien certificate of registration (ACR) and replaced it with a state-of-the-art and tamper-proof card.