MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Tuesday said it surpassed the P1-billion mark in its collection of tourist visa extension fees.
As of Monday, BI Commissioner Siegfried Mison said the total income of the tourist visa section is P1,051,458,049.
Mison said the collection recorded was an increase of 7.4 percent from its 2014 income.
A total of 142,336 applications for tourist visa extension were processed by BI this year with 35 percent from Chinese nationals, followed by Koreans and Americans with 25,296 and 12,099 applications, respectively.
BI said one-third of its total income is attributed to tourists visas while two-thirds of which accounts for other types of visas. Processing of certifications also comprises a small portion of the total income.
Siegfried expressed optimism and confidence that the agency will reach the target P3.26 billion income before the year ends.
“We are positive that we will reach our target income of P3.26 billion at the end of the year, our highest income on record,” Mison said in a statement.
The BI chief also commended the Tourist Visa Section Chair Jonathan Jezreel Diaz for his accomplishment.
“While the BI is not mainly an income-generating agency, we commend our tourist visa section chief, Jonathan Jezebel Diaz, for this remarkable accomplishment. This affirms our commitment to contribute to national development,” Mison said.
The Tourist Visa Section of BI only collected P971 million in visa extension fees in 2014, accounting to 32 percent of the 2014 total income of P3.022 billion.