About 3,000 Chinese nationals with visa violations ordered to leave PH

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is ordering the departure of 2,736 Chinese nationals who entered the country during the first 10 months of the year; they entered the country through the suspended visa upon arrival scheme.

According to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, these foreign visitors arrived from January to October and have been overstaying. These Chinese nationals were given orders to leave after they violated the rule that visas upon arrival are good for only 30 days.

Morente said more than half of those who were ordered to leave were blacklisted or will be prevented from reentering the country.

While some were unable to leave due to circumstance, following the cancellation of many flights due to the pandemic, those who stayed without sufficient basis were included in our blacklist,

Morente said in a statement.

The VUA program, which was a joint project of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), was launched three years ago to attract Chinese tourists and tour groups, allow them to travel to the Philippines and stay here for not more than 30 days, without the need to apply for visas at Philippine consulates in their places of origin. Under the scheme launched in 2017, arriving visitors can apply for a visa through tour operators accredited by the Department of Tourism.

But Morente explained that VUA arrivals account for only around 5% of total Chinese arrivals in the country. She added that most of those who arrived already secured their entry visas from foreign posts abroad.

The government suspended the issuance of these visas in late January due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019.

The policy has also been controversial amid concerns on the influx of Chinese nationals, which officials have called a security threat.