BI: 153,651 foreigners registered as aliens in 2024

Over 153,000 foreign nationals participated in the mandatory registration of aliens who are holders of immigrant and non-immigrant visas in the country.

In a statement, the Bureau of Immigration on Sunday said 153,651 foreigners participated in the 2024 Annual Report from January 1 to March 1, 2024.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the number was 13% higher than the 136,065 registrants in 2023.

Among the nationalities who were among the top 10 registered aliens were:
49,556 Chinese Nationals
26,123 Indians
11,671 Vietnamese
10,912 Americans
7,800 Taiwanese
6,019 Indonesians
5,214 Japanese
3,392 Britons
2,804 Malaysians

Tansingco said it was a "positive sign that more and more aliens are applying for residency in the Philippines," unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic when only a few aliens visited the country.

The agency further noted that 80% of the aliens were walk-ins or reported in person at BI field, extension, and satellite offices, as well as selected shopping malls in Metro Manila and elsewhere which were venues for this year’s annual report.

"It was learned that the government earned almost P16 million from this year’s annual report, compared to last year’s collection of P11 million," the BI noted.

Under the Alien Registration Act of 1950, BI-registered foreign nationals must make the annual report within the first 60 days of every calendar year.

Only those aliens registered with the agency as immigrants and non-immigrants are required to make the annual report, not foreign tourists or temporary visitors.

"Immigrants are permanent residents in the Philippines while non-immigrants refer to temporary residents such as foreign workers or expatriates and students," BI said. — DVM, GMA Integrated News