Registered foreign nationals can now report virtually

The Bureau of Immigration encouraged all registered foreign nationals to use the virtual annual report function in an attempt to speed up the reporting procedure.

According to Philippine law, all foreign nationals with immigrant or nonimmigrant visas who received an alien certificate of registration identity card (ACR I-Card) must appear in person to the bureau for the annual report during the first 60 days of the year.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco emphasized the benefits of the virtual option, allowing foreign nationals living in the country to fulfill their annual reporting obligations through an end-to-end online process.

Foreign nationals can schedule appointments, make payments, and submit their reports online with ease via the virtual Annual Report, which is available at http://e-services. immigration.gov.ph, the BI’s online services website.

Tansingco said that the virtual option aims to provide convenience while maintaining compliance through an online registration platform.

“We encourage all eligible foreign nationals to embrace this innovation as part of our ongoing efforts to modernize our processes,” he said. “These are all learnings from the pandemic. We see the need to update our procedures for it to be more accessible to more people,” he added.

To schedule an appointment, candidates who choose the virtual reporting option must go to the BI online services website.

The physical reporting option, which is available at two malls in Metro Manila and other BI offices across the country, is supplemented with the virtual annual report.

“For those choosing the traditional route in Metro Manila, the physical annual report for the BI’s head office in Manila will take place at the 3rd Level Centre Atrium of Robinsons Manila and the Government Service Express Unit of SM Mall of Asia from Mondays to Fridays, excluding holidays, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.,” Tansingco added.

The BI’s Alien Registration Division has established several requirements for the annual report. Accessible via the BI’s e-services website, one of these requirements is completed online registration. International citizens are required to present their current visas, a valid passport, and their original, valid Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card (ACR I-Card).

Pregnant women, foreigners with medical issues, those 60 years of age and older, mentally or physically disabled people, and foreign nationals under the age of 14 are among the groups that are excluded from physically reporting to the BI.

‘We encourage all eligible foreign nationals to embrace this innovation as part of our ongoing efforts to modernize our processes.’