BI probes visa issuance to fake firms

The Bureau of Immigration revealed on Sunday that it will look into the possibility of their other personnel also being involved in the issuance of pre-arranged employment or 9G visas to fake corporations.

This comes following the incident where four immigration lawyers linked in the issuance of 9G visas — a requirement for foreign nationals to work in the country — to fake companies have been relieved from their duties and are now undergoing an investigation.

“These four lawyers were the recurring ones who processed those visa applications. So our focus initially was with these lawyers,” said BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval in a radio interview.

“But maybe the list may be expanded based on what will be the result of our investigation on the visa issuance in the past five years,” she added.

Sandoval disclosed that the results of the investigation may be revealed by the end of January.

To recall, the Department of Justice has formed a task force to investigate the Immigration lawyers who may be connected to the scheme.

In December 2023, Sandoval said the bureau found that 459 applications that were issued visas were petitioned by fake companies. These foreign nationals were blacklisted by the BI.

She said that most of these 459 foreign nationals who were issued visas were already out of the Philippines.

“We initiated deportation proceedings against those who are still inside the country because they were ordered to leave due to the cancellation of their visas. If they do not comply with the order to leave, we will look for them then enforce their deportation,” Sandoval said.