Immigration: Expats make up majority of resident visa holders in RP

MANILA, Philippines - Expatriates account for the largest number of foreigners with resident visas in the country, according to records from the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

In a report to Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, the BI alien registration division reported that as of May 4 this year, there are 46,241 expatriates with valid working visas registered with the bureau.

Libanan said the growing number of expatriates is a proof that the Philippines’ still the preferred investment site of multinational companies.

 “The presence of expatriates could serve as a gauge of the country’s economic development as many of these foreigners are employed by some of our top 1,000 corporations,” Libanan said.

BI-Alien Registration Division (ARD) chief Danilo Almeda said the expatriates comprised the majority of foreigners who were issued non-immigrant visas.

Almeda explained that a non-immigrant visa is valid only for a certain period of time as opposed to a permanent visa. He said a working visa has a maximum validity of three years, which is renewable, and is issued to a foreigner who is gainfully employed in the country.

Almeda added that there has been a steady increase in the applicants for working visas over the past few years with the continued influx of foreign businessmen into the country.

Statistics also showed that native-born foreigners account for the second largest number of registered foreigners in the BI. Native-born foreigners are categorized as permanent residents and BI records show that there are more than 31,000 of them in the country.

Third on the list of BI-registered foreigners are 16,382 permanent residents who are married to Filipinos and 16,501 others who are holders of valid student visas.

Of the 175,712 foreigners who are registered with the BI, 87,364 are permanent residents or immigrants while 79,538 are non-immigrants, the agency said.