PHILIPPINES – Submission of Letters of Undertaking with Visa Applications, and Update to A Previous Alert
Effective 11 June 2014, the Philippines Bureau of Immigration (BI) will now accept, as part of a visa application, so-called Letters of Undertaking to submit, within 60 days of the application, any personal documents requiring legalisation and translation abroad.
Previously, applicants had to wait for these documents to be authenticated abroad, before submitting their visa application. This change is therefore expected to allow the visa application to be submitted earlier in the process.
Further Details
Documents which may be temporarily substituted by the Letter of Undertaking include, but are not limited to, marriage and birth certificates required for dependent visa applications, and police clearance certificates required for immigrant visa applications.
Failure to submit the relevant legalised and translated documents within 60 days of the visa application will render the approved visa forfeited.
This new rule applies to any visa applications handled in the Philippines by the Bureau of Immigration, including 9(g) Temporary Work (Commercial) and Multiple Entry Special Visa (MESV) applications, and was announced on 11 June 2014 in Operations Order No. SBM-2014-23.
Update to A Previous Alert
On 16 June 2014 the Bureau of Immigration issued revised regulations, effective immediately, on the legitimate parties or representatives authorised to appear during interview on applications for Section 9(g) Commercial Visa, in Operations Order No. SBM-2014-020A.
Based on the latest Order, legal counsels of the petitioning company authorized through a Special Power of Attorney, a Board of Directors’ Resolution or Corporate Secretary’s Certificate, may now represent the petitioning company during the hearing (in the previous Order, described here, legal counsels could not represent the petitioning company).
Action Items
- Note the new possibility to submit Letters of Undertaking in support of visa applications in the Philippines, and the earlier submission of visa applications this may allow.
- Note the penalty for failure to submit the authenticated documents in time.
