FOREIGNERS in Eastern Visayas can now apply for permanent residence visa and pre-arranged employment visa under Sections 13-A and 9g, respectively, of the Philippine Immigration Act (PIA) of 1940 at the BI Tacloban District Office.
To closely attend to this matter, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. issued Personnel Order 1650 dated September 06, 2012 designating lawyer Marianne Hazel Badillo as hearing officer for the BI Tacloban district office.
Badillo said that under the PIA, any foreigner who is legally married to a Filipino citizen is qualified to apply for permanent residence in the country.
He said the applicant must prove, among others, that he has no derogatory record in any local or foreign law enforcement agency; is not afflicted with any dangerous, contagious or loathsome disease; has sufficient financial capacity to support a family; and will not be a public charge in the country.
On the other hand, foreigners who are going to engage in any lawful occupation in the country, whether for wages, or salary or other forms of compensation, are required to apply for pre-arranged employment visa.
Badillo said the applicant’s petitioning company must establish with convincing and satisfactory evidence that the admission and employment of the foreigner in the country is beneficial to public interest.
“I will see to it that applicants have all the necessary qualifications and none of the disqualifications for the type of visa they are applying for,” Badillo said in an interview.
The designation of Badillo as a hearing officer and the consequent authority of BI Tacloban to accept applications for the said visas will spare foreigners from the expenditure and physical inconvenience of long travel from the region to Manila or Cebu just to file their applications and/or petitions and to attend the hearings.
As the duly designated hearing officer, she will conduct the hearing in Tacloban and prepare the order for the approval of the Board of Commissioners in BI main office.
Application fees for this purpose are minimal. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)
