Schools accepting foreign studes sans permit face sanctions

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday said school officials should not accept foreign students without study permits or visas to avoid being sanctioned.

BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr., in a statement, said schools and other learning institutions that would admit foreign students without proper documents would lose their authority to accept foreign students or pay a fine of P50,000, or both.

The BI reiterated the warning a few weeks before the opening of classes for school year 2012-2013.

The bureau is authorized to impose penalties under the implementing rules of Executive Order No. 285, which amended the guidelines for the entry and stay of foreign students in the country.

The BI also warned schools not to accept alien enrollees if their institution is not accredited or authorized by the bureau to admit foreign students.

School owners who would defy the prohibition could also be charged and prosecuted for coddling illegal aliens.

Under Immigration rules, the act of harboring or coddling an illegal alien is penalized with a jail term of five to 10 years and a fine of not less than P5,000 but not more than P10,000.

BI records showed that there are more than 1,300 schools and learning institutions that have been accredited by the BI to accept foreign students.

The BI student desk also disclosed that about 40,000 applied for special study permit (SSP) and student visa during the previous school year.

An SSP is issued to a foreigner below 18 years old who will study in the elementary, secondary and tertiary levels or those taking up special courses of less than a year.

A student visa, on the other hand, is issued to a foreigner aged 18 years and above who would be taking up a course higher than high school at a university, seminary, or college.

BI Student Desk head Cris Villalobos said a foreign student cannot shift to another course or transfer to another school without clearance from the Commissioner on Higher Education (CHED) and Department of Education (DepEd).

Villalobos added that schools are required to designate their representatives who will assist their foreign enrollees in applying for a visa or SSP with the BI.

Only schools accredited by the BI, DepEd, CHED, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Federation of Accrediting Agencies are authorized to accept foreign students.