The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced yesterday that it will resume stamping the regular e-passports of arriving and departing nationals from the People’s Republic of China (PRoC).

The practice of stamping Chinese passports was stopped by the bureau in 2012 at the height of the country’s territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea. This follows the move of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to place Philippine visas of Chinese nationals on a separate sheet of paper.

This policy was implemented after China introduced a new e-passport with pages that included the controversial nine-dash line map which is the basis of its claim on the disputed islands.

In a memorandum issued by Commissioner Jaime Morente, all immigration officers in the different ports of the country may now affix their stamps adjacent to the Philippine visa of a regular e-passport presented by a PRoC passenger.

Morente said the change in policy complies with the DFA’s recently-issued Foreign Service Circular instructing its Philippine consular officers to affix the Philippine visa on the pages of Chinese passports where the nine-dash line map is drawn.

He stated the bureau supports the DFA’s change in policy. Hence, it has adjusted its own procedures to conform to this.

He explained the previous practice of stamping on a separate sheet of paper has proven to be problematic as these sheets are easily lost and misplaced by holders.

He said BI supports this policy update of the DFA, since in the past, the bureau expressed security concerns over the old practice because the sheets of papers can be easily lost.