U.S. citizen arrested for leaving the country with forged ECC clearance permit!

On November 11, local time, the Philippine Immigration Bureau (BI) again warned foreign citizens on Friday that any transactions with the agency should be handled directly with its office and not be deceived by so-called swindlers who can provide immigration services.

"We send a warning to foreign citizens not to take advantage of illegal agents. We have about 60 offices across the country and are expanding to make sure services are closer to the people," Tansingco Norman Chan, the director of immigration, said. "There is really no reason not to comply with immigration laws."

On October 25, Nino Aquino International Airport (NAIA) immigration officials intercepted a US citizen who showed a forged customs clearance permit (ecc).

Immigration officials said that when testing the documents, they noticed various inconsistencies in the documents, including spelling errors in the name of director Tansingco.

In verification with the central database, the immigration officer found that the authorities had not issued the document.

The alien was refused exit and boarding and was handed over to the legal department of the Immigration Department for proper processing.

The authorities reminded that people holding short-term visit visas, including travel visas and business visas, must apply for customs clearance permits before leaving the country as long as they stay in the Philippines for more than six months.

At the same time, on October 28, the Director of Immigration rejected the temporary work permit (pwp) applications of 36 Indonesians because they submitted forged employment permits for foreigners (AEP) in their applications.

The rejected applications were filed by two Internet marketing and customer support services companies based in Makati. Their cases have been referred to the legal department of the Immigration Department for action against the petitioners and applicants.

The employment permit for foreigners is a prerequisite for the issuance of temporary work permits and the processing of a 9G work visa.