MANILA, Philippines–The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is now reviewing the visa upon arrival (VUA) policy to determine if the scheme should be refined or be completely scrapped. Perete said the BI will still formulate a proposal which will then be submitted to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra who has authority over immigration matters. According to Guevarra, foreign nationals who avail of the VUA privilege can then convert the visa into a work visa or a special work permit to be able to stay longer and work in the Philippines. “Doon kelangan ng more adequate monitoring and essentially intelligence work by the BI to prevent those situations na itong visa upon arrival which is supposed to be for tourism purposes ay magagamit for some other purpose,” said Guevarra. ADVERTISEMENTPerete added that the grantees conversion of the VUA to any other type of visa is prohibited.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer August 02, 2019 07:18 UTC