Manila Immigration Bureau Plan to Introduce APIS

Manila’s Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to introduce APIS in a bid to exclude unwanted foreign visitors. The Advance Passenger Information System, mandatory for U.S. travellers, will be operational following government approval.

The BI commissioner, Mr Siegfred Mison said on Friday that ‘immigration authorities from countries where passengers originated will be required to submit names and personal circumstances of passengers boarding airlines and ships bound for the Philippines, allowing those with derogatory records to be segregated pending further security checks’.

The planned introduction of APIS is a part of preparations for two big events in Manila’s calendar, namely the visit of Pope Francis in January 2015 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) in November.

“As soon as the measure is approved we will bid it to interested parties the APIS scan data base which will receive and accept the information sent by the BI foreign counterparts,” said Mison.