Philippine Immigration Act of 1940

Bureau of Immigration; Officers and Powers

Section 2 creates the Bureau of Immigration under a Commissioner of Immigration, with two assistants: First Deputy Commissioner and Second Deputy Commissioner.
Section 2 places the Bureau of Immigration under the supervision and control of the Department of Labor or another executive department the President may later determine.
Section 3 makes the Commissioner of Immigration the administrative head of the Bureau and gives immediate control, direction, and supervision over Bureau officers, clerks, and employees.
Section 3 requires the Commissioner to charge administration of all immigration laws and to issue rules and regulations (subject to approval of the Department Head) and forms of bond, reports, and papers.
Section 3 requires the Commissioner to submit a written annual report (or more often if required) to the President on the transactions of the office.
Section 3 fixes the Commissioner’s compensation at ten thousand pesos per annum.

Deputy Commissioners; Qualifications

Section 4(a) appoints the two Deputy Commissioners by the President, with consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, and they serve at the pleasure of the President.
Section 4(a) sets compensation: the First Deputy Commissioner at nine thousand pesos per annum and the Second Deputy Commissioner at eight thousand four hundred pesos per annum.
Section 4(a) provides succession for acting Commissioner during absence or disability:
- The First Deputy Commissioner acts when the Commissioner is absent or disabled.
- The Second Deputy Commissioner acts when both the Commissioner and the First Deputy Commissioner are absent or disabled.
- The Deputy who so acts performs the duties of the Commissioner in addition to the Deputy’s own duties.
Section 4(b) bars appointment as Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner unless the appointee is a natural-born citizen and at least thirty years of age.

Immigrant Inspectors; Authority and Arrest

Section 5(a) creates the position of Immigrant Inspectors, appointed upon the Commissioner’s recommendation in accordance with Civil Service laws.
Section 5(a) caps Immigrant Inspector salary at a maximum of three thousand six hundred pesos per annum.
Section 5(b) authorizes the Commissioner to appoint Acting Immigrant Inspectors by consent of the proper Department Head whenever necessary; acting inspectors have the same powers and authority.
Section 6 assigns Immigrant Inspectors to examine aliens regarding their right to enter or remain in the Philippines, with medical advice in appropriate cases.
Section 6 authorizes Immigrant Inspectors to:
- Preauthorize admission of any alien complying with applicable immigration laws.
- Enforce immigration laws and regulations.
- Administer oaths, and take and consider evidence on an alien’s right to enter or reside.
- Search for aliens on vessels or conveyances believed to be bringing aliens into the Philippines.
- Arrest without warrant any alien who is, in the inspectors’ presence or view, entering or still entering the Philippines in violation of immigration laws or regulations.

Admission Categories: Nonimmigrants and Documentation

Section 9 allows certain aliens departing from a place outside the Philippines and bound for the Philippines to be admitted as nonimmigrants if otherwise admissible and qualifying under listed categories.
Section 9 lists nonimmigrant categories, including:
- Temporary visitors for business or pleasure or for reasons of health.
- Persons in transit to a destination outside the Philippines.
- Seamen serving as such on a vessel arriving at a Philippine port seeking temporary admission solely for the pursuit of seaman calling.
- Persons seeking entry solely to carry on trade between the Philippines and the foreign state of which they are nationals (including their wife and unmarried children under twenty-one years of age if accompanying or following to join), subject to reciprocity for Philippine citizens under similar conditions in that foreign state.
- Persons returning from a temporary visit abroad to an unrelinquished residence in the Philippines after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
- Students at least fifteen years of age with means sufficient for education and support, entering temporarily and solely for study at schools or institutions approved by the Commissioner.
Section 10 requires nonimmigrants to present unexpired passports or official passport-like documents showing origin and identity, and valid passport visas granted by consular officers, as prescribed by regulations.
Section 10 exempts documentary requirements for specific categories, including:
- A child qualifying as a nonimmigrant born after issuance of an accompanying parent’s passport visa (visa not expired).
- A seaman qualifying under Section 9(c).
- A returning resident presenting a Reentry Permit under Section 22.
Section 11 requires regulations to establish the form and manner of applying for a passport visa and the form and validity of such passport visa.
Section 12 bars issuance of a passport visa when the applicant fails to satisfactorily establish nonimmigrant status or when entry would be contrary to public safety.

Admission Categories: Immigrants and Quota/Nonquota

Section 13 allows admission of immigrants termed “quota immigrants” in amounts not in excess of five hundred of any one nationality or without nationality for any one calendar year, subject to exceptions.
Section 13 allows admission of nonquota immigrants without regard to numerical limitations, including categories such as:
- Prearranged employment immigrants authorized under Section 20, plus their wife and unmarried children under twenty-one (with joining conditions within two years from immigrant admission).
- Family of a Philippine citizen (wife/husband/unmarried child under twenty-one if accompanying or following to join).
- Children born during a temporary foreign visit of a mother previously lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if accompanying or joining and applying within five years from birth.
- Children born subsequent to issuance of an immigration visa to an accompanying parent (visa not expired).
- A woman who lost Philippine citizenship due to marriage to an alien (and her unmarried child under twenty-one) if accompanying or following to join.
- Family of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence before the act became effective, if applications are made within two years after the act became effective.
Section 14 assigns nationality rules for quota-limited immigrants:
- Nationality is that of the immigrant’s country of citizenship or subject.
- Self-governing dominions are treated as separate countries.
- Dual nationality allows selection based on the country where the visa is applied: nationality is that of the country where the application is filed.
Section 15 requires immigrants to present unexpired passports or passport-like documents and valid immigration visas issued by consular officers, except that children born subsequent to issuance of an immigration visa of an accompanying parent (visa not expired) are exempt from these documentary requirements.
Section 16 requires regulations to establish the form and manner of applying for immigration visas and the form and validity of such visas.
Section 17 bars issuance of an immigration visa if the consular officer knows or has reason to believe the immigrant is inadmissible under immigration laws.

Quota Control, Preferences, and Employment Authorization

Section 18 forbids consular issuance of an immigration visa for quota immigrants until the consular office receives from the Commissioner the allotment of a quota number to be placed on the visa.
Section 19 requires the Commissioner, in allotting quota numbers, to accord preferences to:
- Immigrants who are fathers and mothers of Philippine citizens aged twenty-two years or over.
- Wives, husbands, and unmarried children under twenty-one years of age of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence and residing therein.
Section 19 limits preference to those who file a petition for it under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner.
Section 20(a) governs nonquota immigration visas for immigrants referred to in Section 13(a) coming for prearranged employment:
- The consular officer must receive authorization from the Commissioner before issuing the visa.
- Authorization is granted only after a Board of Commissioners finding that no person can be found in the Philippines willing and competent to perform the labor/service, and the admission would be beneficial to the public interest.
- The petition must be filed under oath by the prospective employer or representative in the regulated form and manner.
- The petition must state fully: nature of labor/service, probable length of engagement, wages/other compensation, reasons why a person in the Philippines cannot be engaged, and why admission benefits the public interest.
- The petition must be accompanied by a certified copy of any written contract or agreement for the immigrant’s service and must include additional material information as deemed necessary.
- Substantiation of petition allegations may be required.
Section 20(b) requires that if the Board finds the petition compliant and the petitioner entitled, the Board grants the petition, the Commissioner informs the petitioner, and promptly transmits authorization to the consular office.
Section 20(b) grants a specific exemption: an immigrant receiving a visa and applying for admission is exempt from Section 29(a)(14) excluding aliens coming to perform unskilled manual labor under a promise or offer of employment, in cases covered by Section 20.

Reentry Permits and Fraud Cancellation

Section 22 allows any lawfully resident alien planning temporary departure to apply for a reentry permit with the Commissioner of Immigration.
Section 22 requires issuance if the Commissioner finds the applicant was lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
Section 22 sets the permit validity for a period not exceeding one year, and permits extension by the Commissioner for additional periods not exceeding one year each upon application for extension and a showing of good cause.
Section 22 requires applications for issuance or extension to be under oath and in the form and manner prescribed by regulations.
Section 23 provides that an immigration visa, passport visa, or reentry permit obtained by fraud or willful misrepresentation of fact is subject to cancellation by the issuing officer or by the Board of Commissioners.

Ports, Detention, Special Inquiry, Appeals, and Medical Examination

Section 24 directs the Commissioner to designate entry ports from among those designated by law for customs purposes.
Section 24 requires the Commissioner to designate ports as unlimited or limited ports on entry.
Section 24 authorizes the Commissioner, at limited ports of entry, to permit only those classes of aliens allowed under regulations.
Section 24 empowers the Commissioner to close designated ports whenever advisable in the public interest, with sufficient notice to the public.
Section 25 allows examining immigration officers to order arriving aliens detained on board the vessel or in another designated place, for a time sufficient to determine whether they belong to excluded classes and to facilitate removal at the expense of the vessel bringing them.
Section 26 mandates that an alien who does not appear before the examining immigration officer as clearly entitled to land and beyond a doubt must be detained for examination by a board of special inquiry.
Section 27(a) establishes boards of special inquiry with a Chairman and two members appointed by the President, removable at the President’s pleasure, and allows the Commissioner to assign additional duties.
Section 27(a) permits the President to designate other government employees as board members when permanent boards are inconvenient.
Section 27(b) gives the board authority to determine whether an alien seeking to enter or land is allowed or excluded; the board or members may administer oaths and take evidence; procedure is governed by rules prescribed by the Commissioner.
Section 27(b) provides that decisions of any two members prevail and are final unless reversed on appeal by the Board of Commissioners.
Section 27(c) gives excluded aliens an appeal to the Board of Commissioners, whose decision is final; in appeal cases, the alien may be represented by an attorney or counsel with access to the board record.
Section 28 requires physical and mental examinations of arriving aliens by government medical officers designated by order of the President, who certify observed physical and mental defects or diseases to immigration officers and boards of special inquiry.
Section 28 authorizes private physicians if government medical officers are not available, with expenses chargeable to Bureau of Immigration appropriations.

Excluded Aliens and Burden of Proof

Section 29(a) excludes listed classes of aliens from entry into the Philippines, including:
- Idiots or insane persons, and persons who have been insane.
- Persons afflicted with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, or epilepsy.
- Persons convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
- Prostitutes, procurers, or persons coming for immoral purposes.
- Persons likely to become a public charge.
- Paupers, vagrants, and beggars.
- Persons who practice polygamy, or who believe in or advocate polygamy.
- Persons who believe in/advocate overthrow by force and violence of government or constituted law/authority, or who disbelieve in or are opposed to organized government, or who advocate assault/assassination of public officials by reason of their office, or who advocate/teach doctrines contrary to the Constitution or advocate unlawful destruction of property, or who are members of or affiliated with organizations entertaining or teaching such doctrines.
- Persons over fifteen years of age physically capable of reading who cannot read printed matter in ordinary use in any language selected by the alien, except for covered family of a Philippine citizen or an alien lawfully resident in the Philippines (grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, wife, husband, or child).
- Members of a family accompanying an excluded alien, unless the Commissioner believes no hardship would result from their admission.
- Persons accompanying an excluded person who is helpless due to mental/physical disability or infancy, when protection or guardianship is required and determined by the Commissioner.
- Children under fifteen years of age unaccompanied or not coming to a parent, except discretionary admission by the Commissioner if otherwise admissible.
- Stowaways, except discretionary admission by the Commissioner if otherwise admissible.
- Persons coming to perform unskilled manual labor under a promise or offer of employment (expressed or implied), except it does not apply to persons bearing nonquota immigration visas authorized by Section 20.
- Persons excluded or deported within one year prior to the date of application for admission (waivable by the Commissioner in discretion).
- Persons removed at the expense of the Government as indigent aliens who have not obtained Board of Commissioners consent for readmission.
- Persons not properly documented for admission as required under the act.
Section 29(b) authorizes the Commissioner, in discretion, to permit entry of properly documented aliens who are subject to exclusion if they fall under:
- An alien lawfully resident returning from a temporary visit abroad.
- Any alien who may be required to testify under oath on matters relating to admissibility, with the burden of proof on the alien to establish they are not subject to exclusion.

Immigrant Head Tax and Alien Admission Fees

Section 31 imposes a tax of sixteen pesos for every alien over sixteen years of age admitted for a stay exceeding sixty days.
Section 31 requires payment to the Collector of Customs at the port of arrival by the master, agent, owner, or consignee, or by the alien if collection from the vessel persons is impracticable.
Section 31 provides that the tax is a lien on the vessel and a debt in favor of the Government against the vessel owner, enforceable by any remedy.
Section 42(a) requires collection and payment into the Philippine Treasury of the following fees for services for aliens seeking to enter under the act:
- Executing application for passport visa for nonimmigrant: Gratis.
- Passport visa for nonimmigrant: 10.00.
- Reentry permit: 5.00.
- Extension of reentry permit: 3.00.
- Executing application for immigration visa: Gratis.
- Immigration visa: 10.00.
- Legalization of residence: 10.00.
- Petition for preference quota status: 3.00.
- Petition for nonquota status for immigrant coming to prearranged employment: 10.00.
- Duplicate of residence: 10.00.
- Duplicate certificate of residence: 20.00.
Section 42(a) provides that for a fee of F10, a resident alien may use the reentry permit during a period of one year, regardless of number of trips.
Section 42(a) imposes an additional fee if legalization is accepted after the one-year period in Section 41(a): twenty pesos.
Section 42(a) sets a fee exemption: no fee for passport visas granted to a foreign government official and family, attendants, servants, and employees.
Section 42(b) exempts a fee for passport visas for a nonimmigrant in transit to a destination outside the Philippines.

Vessel Reporting, Seamen Duties, and Transport Costs

Section 32 requires the master, agent, owner, or consignee of a vessel arriving from abroad or departing abroad to furnish immigration officers at the port of arrival and departure the crew lists, passenger manifests, and other information required by regulations.
Section 32 allows the Commissioner to exempt any vessel from furnishing the required information in the Commissioner’s discretion.
Section 33 requires vessel masters to detain on board alien seamen employed on the vessel until inspected by the immigration officer, to keep them detained after inspection, and to remove them if required by the immigration officer or the Commissioner.
Section 33 prohibits paying off or discharging any seaman employed on the vessel in a Philippine port without permission of immigration authorities.
Section 34 authorizes permitting an alien seaman temporarily to land under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner.
Section 35 requires vessel owners to bear costs of maintenance on land, medical treatment, burial upon death, and transfer back to vessel in deportation events for aliens temporarily removed for examination.
Section 36 mandates immediate return to the country whence the excluded alien came on the arriving vessel in accommodations of the same class, unless the Commissioner finds immediate deportation not practicable or proper.
Section 36 requires vessel owners to bear the expense of return; it also allows government payment of deportation costs where immediate deportation is not practicable or where the vessel left and another vessel owned by the same interests cannot deport within a reasonable time, subject to recovery from the vessel owner/agent/consignee.
Section 36 authorizes the Commissioner to direct removal to the alien’s country of nativity or nationality when return cannot be effected, with removal costs borne by vessel owners if removal by the arriving vessel or another vessel owned by the same interests cannot be done within a reasonable time.

Deportation: Grounds, Procedure, Release, and Removal

Section 37(a) requires arrest upon warrant by the Commissioner (or designated officer) and deportation upon warrant of the Commissioner after the Board of Commissioners determines the grounds for deportation exist, for the listed classes, including:
- Aliens entering after the act’s effective date by false/misleading statements or without inspection and admission by immigration authorities at a designated port of entry.
- Aliens entering after the act’s effective date who were not lawfully admissible at the time of entry.
- Aliens convicted in the Philippines and sentenced for one year or more for a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years after entry, or convicted and sentenced more than once at any time after entry.
- Aliens convicted and sentenced for violating the law governing traffic in prohibited drugs.
- Aliens practicing prostitution, inmates of houses of prostitution, connected with management of a house of prostitution, or procurers.
- Aliens becoming a public charge within five years after entry from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen subsequent to entry.
- Aliens remaining in violation of limitations or conditions of nonimmigrant admission.
- Aliens who advise/advocate/teach overthrow by force and violence of government or constituted law and authority, or who disbelieve in or oppose organized government, or who advise/advocate/teach assault or assassination of public officials because of office, or who advise/advocate/teach unlawful destruction of property, or who are affiliated with organizations engaging in such doctrines, or lend assistance for dissemination.
Section 37(b) limits deportation timing:
- Deportation may be effected at any time after entry under clauses 2, 7, and 8 of Section 37(a).
- Deportation under other clauses requires arrest in deportation proceedings within five years after the cause for deportation arises.
- Deportation under clauses 3 and 4 is not effected if the sentencing court/judge recommends not deportation.
Section 37(c) prohibits deportation without:
- being informed of the specific grounds for deportation, and
- being given a hearing under rules of procedure prescribed by the Commissioner.
Section 37(d) places the burden of proof on the alien in deportation proceedings involving entry: the alien must show lawful entry, and the time, place, and manner of entry, and is entitled to a statement of facts regarding arrival as shown by Bureau of Immigration records.
Section 37(e) allows release for an alien under arrest in deportation proceedings under bond or other conditions imposed by the Commissioner of Immigration.
Section 38 requires that an alien ordered deported be removed at the Commissioner’s option to one of the listed destinations: country whence he came, foreign port of embarkation, country of nativity or citizenship/subjecthood, or country of prior residence.
Section 39 provides cost allocation:
- If deportation proceedings are instituted within five years after entry, and deportation is not for causes arising subsequent to entry, deportation cost from the deportation port is borne by the owner(s) of the vessel by which the alien came (or otherwise payable from appropriations available for that purpose in the law’s terms).

Bonds and Conditions for Release

Section 40(a) authorizes the Commissioner to exact bonds in amounts and with conditions prescribed to:
- control and regulate admission/departure for aliens applying for temporary admission,
- ensure that alien passengers liable to be excluded as likely public charges do not become public charges, and
- ensure appearance of aliens released from custody during deportation proceedings.
Section 40(b) permits cash deposits in lieu of bond with amounts the Commissioner requires, deposited with the Collector of Customs.
Section 40(c) mandates cancellation/return when conditions are fulfilled or likelihood no longer exists under the Commissioner’s decision, and upon naturalization as a Philippine citizen or death of the alien in whose behalf bond/deposit was given.
Section 40(c) provides that in case of forfeiture, bond proceeds or cash deposits are deposited in the Philippine Treasury by the Collector of Customs.

Legalization of Residence and Presumption

Section 41(a) allows an alien in the Philippines at the time of passage with no record of admission for permanent residence that cannot be located to apply for legalization of residence.
Section 41(a) requires filing within one year after the effective date of the Act, but allows the Commissioner to accept applications after one year for justifiable reasons.
Section 41(a) creates a consequence: any alien who fails to legalize within the section’s terms is presumed to be unlawfully within the Philippines.
Section 41(b) requires the Commissioner to record legalization in the Bureau of Immigration if the Commissioner finds the applicant:
- entered before the act’s effective date,
- maintained residence since entry,
- is a person of good moral character, and
- is not subject to deportation.
Section 41(c) deems an alien whose residence is legalized as lawfully admitted as of the date of entry.

Removal of Indigent Aliens; Readmission Bar

Section 43 authorizes the Commissioner to remove indigent aliens at the expense of an appropriation after entry when they are in distress or need public aid from causes arising subsequent to entry and desire removal.
Section 43 bars readmission forever for persons removed under this section except upon Board of Commissioners authorization obtained previous to embarkation for the Philippines.

Administrative Fines Against Vessels; Clearances

Section 44(a) imposes a fine of fifty pesos per person if a vessel fails to submit required crew lists, passenger manifests, and other information under regulations, or fails to produce or satisfactorily account for every seaman/passenger whose name appears in such lists.
Section 44(b) imposes a fine of five hundred pesos for each and every violation per person if a vessel:
- fails to prevent landing of an alien at any place other than designated by immigration officers,
- refuses or fails to pay costs of maintenance and other required costs for temporarily removed aliens for examination,
- refuses to receive excluded aliens for removal or refuses to pay removal costs as required, or
- makes charges against the alien for those costs or takes security from the alien for payment of those costs.
Section 44(c) requires the Collector of Customs to collect fines and enforce payment like customs-law fines; fines go to the Philippine Treasury.
Section 44(c) prohibits granting vessel clearance pending determination of liability or while the fine remains unpaid, unless security sufficient to cover the fine is deposited with the Collector of Customs.
Section 44(d) bars prosecution/enforcement proceedings for penalties more than five years after the violation is committed.

Criminal Penalties for Fraud and Harboring

Section 45 punishes an individual with a penalty upon conviction of:
- fines not more than one thousand pesos, or imprisonment not more than two years, or both, for acts including:
  - forging/prescribing/impersonating names in immigration applications,
  - evading immigration laws using assumed/fictitious names,
  - issuing or disposing of immigration documents to unauthorized persons,
  - obtaining, accepting, or using immigration documents knowing them to be false,
  - entering at any time or place other than designated by immigration officials,
  - obtaining entry by willful false/misleading representation or willful concealment of a material fact,
  - representing as a Philippine citizen to evade immigration requirements,
  - knowingly making false statements under oath in immigration matters,
  - attempting or conspiring to commit any of the foregoing acts.
Section 46 punishes an individual with the same scale (fines not more than one thousand pesos, or imprisonment not more than two years, or both) for:
- bringing into or landing in the Philippines, concealing