The Bureau of Immigration uncovered a modus operandi to sneak Chinese nationals into the country through fraudulent Visa Upon Arrivals.
VUAs orchestrated by the bureau’s accredited travel agency, allegedly in connivance with some immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Commissioner Jaime Morente suspended the accreditation Cloud Travel Consultancy Corp. after it was caught duplicating approved visa orders.
Morente also ordered an investigation against several immigration officers at the NAIA for allegedly allowing several Chinese nationals to enter the country despite presenting “xerox” copies of VUAs.
According to the BI, they found evidence that the agency allowed some Chinese nationals to avail of the VUA facility though fraud, misrepresentation, or false information.
“We received a report from our men stationed at the airports that they have intercepted a number of Chinese nationals who showed fake VUA orders. What these illegal foreigners do not know is that we have incorporated VUA records in our computer systems since early last year, hence visas are immediately verified upon presentation to the officer,” he said.
The BI chief instituted strict measures to ensure that tampering with VUAs will not happen, following concerns from the public regarding the issuance said visas.
“Apart from real time system verification, we have also instituted the Special Operations Communications Unit (SOCU) that conducts checking and auditing of VUAs encountered at our ports. We will not tolerate those who make a mockery of our policies. We have put in safeguards
to ensure that tampering will not happen, do not even think schemes like this will not be caught,” he warned.
Last January 8, the Department of Justice, (DOJ) which is BI’s mother department, issued Department Circular No.
001 tightening the procedures on granting VUAs to Chinese nationals.
The visa upon arrival program was implemented by the BI following a 2017 circular from the DOJ ordering the grant of VUA to Chinese nationals. The move, as initiated by the Department of Tourism, aimed
to provide faster processing to attract more tourists and investors from China, which reports say has the world’s largest number of outbound tourists.
Nearly 2,000 illegal Chinese workers have been apprehended in the Philippines over the past two years.
The biggest haul was in 2016 when 1,200 Chinese employees of a gaming firm inside the Clark special economic zone in Pampanga province were rounded up.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that at least 150,000 Chinese in the offshore gaming industry could be working without permits.