The Philippine Immigration Bureau issued a reminder to outbound passengers before Holy Week.

Ahead of Holy Week, the Philippine Immigration Bureau (BI) on Thursday issued a reminder to travelers who need to show additional documents before they can be allowed to leave the country.

In a statement, Commissioner Tansingco Norman urged foreign visitors, government officials and employees, and parents/guardians traveling abroad to ensure they have full travel documents.

For foreigners or those staying in the country for more than six months, they must obtain proof of immigration clearance at any of the different BI zones, on-site, satellite and extended offices across the country.

Similarly, registered aliens with an Alien Registration Identity Card (ACR I-Cards) can obtain re-entry permits at other BI offices or the BI NAIA One Stop Service before continuing their flight.

the director of immigration pointed out that getting the required permits early "will cut the queuing time by half as they do not have to queue up at separate counters at immigration cashiers."

At the same time, he reminded Filipinos working in government departments to produce the authorization required for their respective department heads to go abroad.

The Tansingco recommends that parents of unaccompanied minors ensure that they obtain the necessary permits from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) before the flight.

Outbound passengers are urged to check in at least three hours before flight departure and go directly to the immigration clearance area to avoid airport congestion.

He said that although long queues were expected at the Immigration Department, they had ensured that they were fully staffed during the peak season.

Earlier, the Immigration Department reported that 155 additional immigration officers had been deployed to ensure that all counters were fully equipped to serve arriving and departing passengers.

Tansingco recently installed electronic gates in arrival areas at major international airports are expected to reduce processing time from 45 seconds to 8 seconds.

Immigration expects passenger numbers to increase from the end of the week.