BI probes officers on fake visa extensions

Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan ordered yesterday an investigation into alleged involvement of some BI officers in the issuance of fake visa extensions to two Indian nationals who were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Wednesday.

Libanan said the fake visa extensions stamped on the passports of the arrested Indians – identified as Jaswant Singh Dhillon, 22, and Paranjit Kaur Brar, 26 – would have not been possible without help from some immigration personnel.

He stressed that it is important to combat possible collusion of immigration employees with fraud syndicates that issue fake visa extensions to foreigners since such a scheme deprives the government of much-needed revenue.

The two Indians were about to board a Singapore Airlines flight to India last Wednesday when they were intercepted by members of the BI’s migration compliance and monitoring group (MCMG).

BI-MICG head Clodualdo Peñera said the Indians’ passports, which also contained fake entry visas, were confiscated and the passengers asked to report to the bureau’s main office in Intramuros for further investigation.

Peñera said that based on initial interviews with the Indians, it appears that they were victimized by a fake visa syndicate operating in Manila allegedly ran by unscrupulous travel agents in collusion with some BI employees.

The incident prompted Libanan to order a strict examination of the passports of departing foreign tourists to make sure that the visa extensions on their passports are genuine.     – Edu Punay