No. of foreign students in Bacolod, Negros Occidental grows by 20.9%

MANILA, Philippines - The number of foreign students attending school in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental jumped by 20.9 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, data from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) Bacolod Field Office showed.

Figures showed that from Jan. 1 to June 30 this year, a total of 1,567 international students have already applied or issued special study permits from only 126 in the same period last year. Most of the students attend English language courses in Bacolod.

For the entire 2012, data from BID Bacolod showed that 2,423 students were issued permits. These include permits for Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese students.

The office also reported that applications received and approved for visa extension grew by 24.9 percent from 551 in January to June last year to 4,980 in the first half of 2013.

Bacolod Alien Control Officer Mita Chuvy Arguelles said, however, that the number of resident aliens who paid their annual registration fee dropped by 7.8 percent.

Records showed that 886 out of 1,271 resident aliens paid their fees in the first half of the year.

Arguelles said this might be due to several reasons including death, travel abroad or transfer of residency.