IMMIGRATION Commissioner Norman Tansingco made an urgent call for inter-agency action on the large presence of Chinese nationals with student visas in the country.
Tansingco has requested the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which chairs the inter-agency committee on foreign students (IACFS), to hold a high-level meeting for
members to clarify the role of each agency in permitting foreigners to study in the country.
Based on Immigration records, a total of 1,516 Chinese nationals have been granted student visas in Cagayan, all endorsed by a “major Philippine university,” which the bureau did not identify.
The bureau said upon verification, only 485 of these Chinese nationals with student visas are enrolled as of April with only 96 attending onsite classes.
“We have requested the high-level meeting to reiterate our previous requests for immediate and regular joint inspections given new developments in national security concerns,” Tansingco said in a statement.
“We also believe it is high time that the inter-agency be active in matters of national security by including security assessment as a regular agenda in meetings,” he added.
In 2023, the BI issued a total of 24,189 student visas to various nationalities. A total of 16,190 were issued to Chinese nationals all over the Philippines, majority of them are in Metro Manila.
Chinese nationals remain the top source for foreign students in most countries. In the US, a total of 289,526 Chinese nationals were given student visa.
Tansingco also cited Malaysia and Thailand, which issued around 130,000 and 20,000 student visas to Chinese nationals in 2022.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which co-chairs the IACFS, most student visas are acquired after the foreigner has entered the country as tourist.
