The Bureau of Immigration ordered Australian nun Patricia Fox to leave the country after the bureau denied her application for an extension of her temporary visa which will expire on Nov. 3.
The 72-year-old nun, who personally went to the bureau to apply for the extension of her temporary visa in a bid to extend her stay in the country, is contesting her deportation order before the Department of Justice which is still pending.
Fox’s request for an extension of her missionary visa was petitioned by the Superior of the Religieuse De Notre Dame De Sion, Inc.
The controversial nun will be considered an overstaying alien starting Nov. 4, the BI said.
However, Fox can still stay in the country without prejudice to the resolution of her appeal to the DOJ on her deportation case, the BI said.
BI spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said that Sister Fox violated the conditions of her stay and is considered undesirable, hence a deportation order was issued against her.
She admitted that the BI cannot forcibly deport the nun because of the pending petition before the DOJ.
“Until a final resolution of the visa cancellation and/or deportation proceedings is reached, or until the expiration of her missionary visa, whichever comes first, Sister Fox may continue to perform her duties as a missionary in the Philippines,” the DOJ said in a statement.