BI orders arrest of 200 aliens for overstaying

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo disclosed yesterday that more than 200 aliens are facing arrest and deportation after losing their permanent resident visas for failing to pay in full the fees they owed the government when they availed of an amnesty program for illegal alien a few years ago.

Domingo said that a total of 246 aliens who were granted visas under the Alien Social Integration Act of 1995 are now the object of a manhunt after they were charged with deportation cases.

Domingo also said that the visas of the aliens were canceled by the board of commissioners for their failure to pay the balance of the integration fees they still owed the government by availing themselves of the program.

"We have no choice but to cancel the visas of these aliens as they were already given ample time to pay their fees," she said.

Domingo noted that the bureau extended the deadline for the payment of the fees for several times since early last year but said aliens ignored the notices of payment sent to them.

The aliens were advised by Domingo to voluntarily leave the country as they are now considered undocumented aliens.

Lawyer Marcela Maalaluan, who heads the bureau’s alien social integration office, said that the government lost as much as P50 million to P60 million from non-payment of fees.

Records showed that the aliens were principal applicants and their dependents who were allowed to pay their fees by installment over a three-year period starting from the date their application was approved. — Rey Arquiza