Only 485 out of the 1,516 Cagayan-based Chinese students granted student visas are currently enrolled in a university in the province, according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco made the observation after the bureau found that all 1,516 student visas were endorsed by a major university in Cagayan.
Furthermore, of the 485 currently enrolled, only 96 students were attending classes.
Tansingco said that he has requested the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which chairs the inter-agency committee on foreign students (IACFS), to call for a high-level meeting for members to clarify the role of each agency in permitting foreigners to study in the country.
In 2023, BI issued a total of 24,189 student visas to various nationalities. These included 16,190 Chinese nationals nationwide, majority of which in the National Capital Region.
Schools who accept foreign nationals as students are required to submit regular reports of their students to all IACFS agencies.
“We have requested the high-level meeting to reiterate our previous requests for immediate joint inspections, and for it to become a regular conduct by the IACFS given new developments in national security concerns,” Tansingco said.