Foreigners advised to apply for I-card

The Bureau of Immigration is calling on all holders of paper-based Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) to apply for the new chip-based Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card (ACR I-Card).

Registration for the new card would be until Nov. 15. Failure to comply would mean fines or deportation.

Roy Almoro, associate commissioner in charge of the I-Card Project, said an applicant who is due to leave the country can secure an I-Card within the same day, provided that a photocopy of the plane ticket is attached to the I-Card application.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said the bureau has introduced innovations to the ACR I-Card, which helped drastically reduce the processing time for the issuance of I-Cards.

The bureau is actively addressing the issue of backlogs in the processing of I-Card applications.