QuestionsQuestions (BI MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. MCL-08-029)
It cites Commonwealth Act No. 613 (Philippine Immigration Act of 1940), as amended, which vests in the Bureau of Immigration the responsibility for administration and enforcement of immigration laws and the supervision of aliens’ entry, stay, and departure.
It addresses temporary foreign visitors who fail to extend or update their tourist visas and continue to overstay in the Philippines despite the BI’s Visa Issuance Made Simple (VIMS) program.
Yes. It states that temporary foreign visitors who are overstaying “for no valid reason are deemed undesirable” and should be ordered to leave and placed in the BI blacklist.
They shall be allowed to update their stay upon payment of all necessary fees, fines, and penalties.
They must be ordered to leave within ten (10) calendar days from the time they are allowed to update their stay.
The circular provides that such overstaying foreign visitors shall have their names included in the BI blacklist.
No. It explicitly states that the circular does not preclude the BI from exercising other legal actions and remedies against overstaying foreigners pursuant to law, rules, and regulations.
The circular does not enumerate them, but it indicates they may be pursued pursuant to existing immigration laws and rules and regulations—i.e., beyond blacklist inclusion and the departure order.
It takes effect on July 01, 2008.
No. The circular states that “All temporary foreign visitors who are overstaying in the country on or after the said effectivity date shall be covered by the Circular.”
It treats overstay as a “patent violation” of a basic immigration requirement that must not be condoned, and it characterizes overstayers as undesirable.
The circular frames it as a means to order undesirable overstayers to leave and to record them in the Bureau’s blacklist.
It requires that copies be immediately published in a newspaper of general circulation and filed with the Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR) at the U.P. Law Center, and furnished to all concerned.
It was adopted on 03 June 2008, signed by Commissioner Marcelino C. Libanan (SGD.).
It notes that despite the VIMS program simplifying tourist visa extension requirements, some temporary visitors still fail to extend or update their visas and overstay.
No. The circular allows updating upon payment, but it still provides that their names shall be included in the BI blacklist. Thus, payment and update do not prevent blacklist inclusion under the circular’s terms.