The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that over 153,000 foreign nationals with immigrant and non-immigrant visas participated in this year's annual report.

A total of 153,651 foreign participants took part in the 2024 Annual Report, which started from 1 January to 1 March, according to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco.

Tansingco said this year’s reportees were higher by 13 percent than the 136,065 aliens who reported for their annual report in 2023.

The BI chief described the upswing as notable and indicated that it is an upward trend in more foreign nationals are applying for or requesting residency in the Philippines, as opposed to the COVID-19 pandemic, when relatively few foreigners arrived in the country.

Tansingco clarified that international tourists or short-term visits are not needed to submit the annual report; only those aliens who have registered with the BI as immigrants or non-immigrants are.

Non-immigrants are those who are temporary residents, such as foreign workers, expatriates, and students, whereas immigrants are those who live permanently in the Philippines.

BI Alien Registration chief, Atty. Jose Carlitos Licas, said that 49,556 Chinese nationals topped the list of this year’s reportees, followed by 26,123 Indians, 11,671 Vietnamese, 10,912 Americans, and 7,800 Taiwanese.

In addition, 6,448 South Koreans; 6,019 Indonesians; 5,214 Japanese; 3,392 British; and 2,804 Malaysians are also on the top 10 list.

Atty. Licas also added that 80 percent of the aliens were walk-ins or reported in-person at the BI field, extension, and satellite offices, as well as selected shopping malls in Metro Manila and elsewhere that were the venues for this year’s annual report. For the first time in BI history, this year’s annual report allowed nearly 8,000 aliens to report virtually and pay their fees online.

It was discovered that the government received about P16 million from the annual report this year, as opposed to P11 million the previous year.

Foreign nationals who are BI-registered and have to file an annual report must do so within the first 60 days of each calendar year, according to the Alien Registration Act of 1950.