Immigration offices open during Christmas break

Foreigners needing to extend their tourist visas do not need to wait for the end of the Christmas break to process their documents since the Bureau of Immigration (BI) will have skeletal teams man its offices.

In a statement, Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said the BI would be open on Dec. 26, 29 and 31 to help foreign nationals extend their tourist visas or update their records.

There would also be personnel assigned at the Office of the Commissioner, alien registration division, immigration regulation division, intelligence division, administrative division and the law and investigation division. 

BI technical staff head Manuel Ferdinand Arbas said they would even entertain foreigners who want to file petitions to allow them to change their immigration status and apply for dual citizenship.

There would also be a small contingent of BI intelligence operatives on standby to respond to complaints or reports of overstaying foreigners or sightings of undesirable aliens. – Evelyn Macairan