I-Card holders still need entry, exit permits, says BI

Foreign nationals holding the new I-Card still have to secure re-entry and exit permits before they leave the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) clarified yesterday.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. has corrected earlier reports that said holders of I-Card no longer need to secure re-entry and exit permits from the bureau as a result of a new computerized scheme.

Fernandez explained the only change in the processing of both permits brought about by the new I-Card system is that the bureau would no longer issue paper-based re-entry permits and special return certificates to aliens who leave the country.

He stressed that departing foreigners still have to apply for re-entry and exit permits, which would now be incorporated with their I-Cards.

"They still have to pay the required immigration fees for their permits or they won’t be allowed to leave," the BI chief said.

Upon payment of necessary fees, the re-entry and exit permits would be encoded into the I-Card database of a foreign passenger.

"This is still in line with our objective in the I-Card project, which is to make transactions in the bureau paperless and facilitate the delivery of fast and efficient services to the public," Fernandez noted.

The I-Card replaced the paper-based Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR). BI officials said the modernization project would improve efficiency and security of alien registration, identification and monitoring systems.

The project, Fernandez said, was created to address the increasing traffic of travelers at the ports as well as the threats posed by foreign terrorists and transnational criminals through the implementation of an automated, accurate, fraud-proof alien registration system.

BI technical assistant Ferdinand Arbas added that the I-Card has an embedded computer chip with biometric security features capable of data management that can be updated electronically.

The bureau earlier revealed there are at least 90,000 foreign nationals who have applied for I-Cards as of Sept. 15.

The BI chief said there was a surge in the application for the new alien registration document after the agency extended the deadline until Nov. 15.

Earlier, the BI announced that more foreign tourists are flocking into the country, citing as an indicator the eight percent rise in the number of aliens who visited the country during the first half of this year.

Some 1.4 million foreign nationals arrived in the country from January to June, or a total of 110, 175 more aliens admitted as compared to 1.27 million aliens recorded during the same period last year.

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