The Philippine Bureau of Immigration said today that from January to October this year, 2,736 Chinese nationals who entered the country on visas-on-arrival were ordered to leave the country for overstaying their visas.
The influx of Chinese nationals into the Philippines has recently raised concerns among Filipino senators and the public. The fact that only 35 years of age or older is required for Filipino retired immigrants has also raised concerns among Senators about the national security risks posed by the fact that nearly 40% of Filipino retired immigrants are from the People’s Republic of China.
Senator Risa Hontiveros (D-ILA) said on December 20 that 4 million Chinese nationals have entered the Philippines since 2017, more than the residents of Quezon City (population 2.94 million), the Philippines’ most populous city, and about 150,000 of them have entered the country on visa-on-arrival.
In a press release issued today by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, Immigration Director Jaime Morente said that more than half of the Chinese nationals who have been ordered to leave the Philippines have been placed on the blacklist.
He said that while some Chinese nationals have been unable to leave the Philippines due to cancelled flights due to the Wuhan pneumonia (a new form of coronavirus disease, COVID-19) outbreak, “those who do not have a good reason to stay have been placed on our blacklist.
In an effort to attract Chinese travelers to the Philippines, the Department of Tourism and the Department of Justice opened the door for Chinese nationals to apply for visa-on-arrival (VUA) in August 2017, provided that those who enter the country with a visa-on-arrival cannot stay for more than 30 days.
The August 2019 announcement by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Philippines stated that in recent years, the Philippines has seen a proliferation of online gambling companies that illegally employ Chinese nationals to work in the Philippines. To avoid unnecessary complications and economic losses, Chinese citizens are reminded to “suspend or carefully choose to apply for a visa-on-arrival to the Philippines,” given the uncertainty of the current visa-on-arrival policy.
Only about 5 percent of Chinese nationals coming to the Philippines on visa-on-arrival have entered the country, Mr. Molind said.
To curb the spread of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak, Manila authorities banned all foreigners from entering the Philippines, except for foreign spouses, children and officials of foreign governments and international organizations, starting March 19. Visa-on-arrival applications by Chinese citizens are also currently suspended.
On the other hand, in response to the senators’ concerns, the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) today sent a letter to all Special Retirement Residence Visa (SRV) holders requesting them to inform whether they have other relatives in the Philippines and what their sources of income are so as to ascertain if there are any citizens from China or other countries working illegally in the Philippines under the SRV status.
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