New BI system: Tourist visa in one day [in Philippines BI offices]

[A_flyer]

Good news for Foreigners willing to get a visa in the Philippines Bureau of Immigration in the Philippines (I suppose they will use also the same system in their Embassies):
New BI system: Tourist visa in one day (Philippines Star - Jan 14, 2008)
Foreign tourists can now enjoy a more convenient visit to the country, as the processing time of their visas has been cut from a month to one day via the new Visa Issuance Made Simple (VIMS) system, Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said yesterday...
Read more here: http://www.philstar.com/index.php?He...id=20080113145

[KeithD]

I hate the word 'simple' when it has anything to do with a government!!

[Welsh_Italian]

I experienced the VIMS system today. I got myself a tourist visa extension (from 21 day to add 38 days) and I also applied for a s13(a) residence visa too.

I got the extension the same day though there was lots of queuing and confusion. The s13(a) visa has been simplified a lot - no medical check, financial check, NBI clearance etc which has made the system smooth. There is Bureau of Immigration clearance which is done there and then. I made my residence visa application today and my interview is scheduled for Thursday - in 3 days time which is much quicker than I thought possible. The tentative date for the decision is March 14th which makes it possible to get the residence visa in less than 2 days. No fixers needed, though the notary charged 500PHP for notarising documents including doing a standard letter from spouse (with copy) and checking the application. In contrast to the extension visa, there were no queues, and I found the staff to be friendly and helpful!

Will I be back in 2 weeks to complain about the decision though?

[A_flyer]

That's good news. Keep us informed until the final (hopefully happy) status.

[Welsh_Italian]

Will do. The only thing that irked me was that I might get the residence visa before my 21 day visa is up - which means I wouldn't have had to get the extension visa!!!

Still, it's np really - better to be safe than sorry and I only had to pay for BI clearance just the once for both applications.

[fred]

OK thanks for the info based on new rules..
Will your ACR card have temporary or Permanent on it considering you applied in the R.P?

[Welsh_Italian]

I was also told that they are cracking down on the issuance of the Balikbayan stamp to foreigners. My wife was only abroad for 3 months and was not considered to be a Balikbayan which meant that I couldn't avail of the privilege. I think Libanan wants to crack down on this to encourage foreign spouses to apply for s13(a)s instead.

[jonnijon]

Has anyone a web address for these new rules?Thanks in advance.

[A_flyer]

Has anyone a web address for these new rules?Thanks in advance.

Here are 2 newspaper articles with infos (Philstar archiving is not working):
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...80114met4.html
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/new...icle_id=112420

And read the other post of Welsh_Italian in another thread (you have the link to the Philippines Immigration website on the MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. MCL--07--005 about VIMS): http://filipinaroses.com/showpost.ph...84&postcount=9

[jonnijon]

A Flyer thanks very much,cant belive things are getting more simple,but I expect there will be some Lets all hope it goes well.It will be very good for the Philippines to get rid of a lot of red tape.
My honey filed for anullment in December,wish they would make that quicker.

[A_flyer]

My honey filed for anullment in December,wish they would make that quicker.

Don't dream, it's a long and costly process...

[Pepe n Pilar]

A Flyer thanks very much,cant belive things are getting more simple,but I expect there will be some Lets all hope it goes well.It will be very good for the Philippines to get rid of a lot of red tape.
My honey filed for anullment in December,wish they would make that quicker.

If she avails of the package deal then it will only take her at least 3-5 months but if not then it takes a year...Be patient...

[Welsh_Italian]

I'm back from Manila now.

Todays procedure was simple and easy again. We entered the main building, chatted to security (I had to leave some ID - my old work card) at the main desk and we walked to the top floor where a happy guard took my details. We rested a little while and went to room 401 to tell them that we had arrived. They told us to go to another room and we entered though we were early. We gave our details and were interviewed right there and this took only 10-15 minutes.

The questions covered things like, "when did you get married?", "are you working?", "where did you work before?", "how did you meet", "do you have savings" with lots of interruptions from the rest of the office who had other matters they wanted the guy to deal with. The interview was in Taglish which didn't help as I'm not that fluent in it.

Of course, even if I was working (which I'm not), I would not have said that I was: I need the visa before I have permission to do so! The questions were fairly basic and general and we left quickly after we had arrived. I was given the phone number and name of a member of staff and asked to phone next week on the "tentative" date (next Friday) so it's just a case of sit and wait until then.

[chino]

well done... its nice that the process is getting better!