APPROVAL, IMPLEMENTATION AND RELEASE OF 9(D) AND 9(G) VISA APPLICATIONS

The following rules are issued by authority of the Commissioner of
Immigration under Commonwealth Act No. 613, Section 3, as amended, to
effectively carry-out Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9485 (The 2007 Anti-Red
Tape Act) that directs government agencies to: (1) Prevent unnecessary
delays; (2) Hasten government transactions and (3)( Provide stiff
penalties for non-compliance.

Thus, to expedite the approval, implementation and release of visa
applications under C.A. No. 613, Sections 9(d) and 9 (g), as amended:

1. Commercial, non-commercial and (religious-charitable)
missionary visa applications shall be resolved by the Board of
Commissioners (BOC) convening as a collegial body with a quorum present.
The decision of any two members of the BOC shall prevail. For this
purpose, the Commissioner of Immigration shall preside as BOC Chairman.

2. Each BOC decision/resolution/order under this Memorandum Order
shall state clearly and distinctly the facts and the applicable la w.
Individual acts/decisions/resolutions/orders/correspondences by BOC
members on matters requiring BOC action are unauthorized, and are hereby
set aside.

3. After deliberation, a BOC member shall have within three (3)
days to officially submit written separate opinions, comments, etc.
concerning a visa application; otherwise, this privilege is waived. For
this purpose, the BOC Secretary shall: (i) Receive and attach the BOC
member’s concerns to the visa application; (ii) Calendar these concerns
for immediate BOC resolution; and (iii) Maintain a complete record of
BOC deliberations.

4. Commercial, non-commercial and (religious-charitable) missionary
visa applications shall be decided within ten (10) days following its
submission. The parties shall be notified of the decision personally or
registered mail addressed to their counsel on record, if any, or to
them.

For this purpose, official written notices of BOC
visa-approval/denial shall be immediately sent to parties through the
fastest means available by the BOC Secretary, who shall always attach
proof of notice on each visa application.

5. The decision of the BOC shall become final and executory ten
(10) days after the receipt by the parties, unless an appeal or judicial
review, if proper, is perfected. One motion for reconsideration shall
be allowed. The motion shall be resolved by the BOC within three (3)
days upon submission.

However, the BOC ’s findings of fact shall be conclusive, and not
subject to review in the absence of fraud, imposition or mistake other
than error of judgement in estimating the value or effect of evidence,
regardless of whether or not it is consistent with the preponderance of
evidence, so long as there is some evidence upon which the finding in
question could be made.

6. After deliberations, the BOC Secretary shall immediately
prepare and submit a certified official list of BOC-approved visa
applications to the Executive Officer, who shall implement/release each
BOC-approved visa, without further delay, upon the: (i) Appearance of
the parties, their counsel, if any, and/or their duly-authorized
representatives and (ii) Payment of duly-receipted fees. Unless
otherwise expressly authorized by the Commissioner of Immigration, no
additional documents shall be imposed by the Executive Officer.

7. The Executive Officer shall submit weekly reports of implemented
and unimplemented visas subject of this memorandum to the BOC Secretary
and the BI-IDAP Coordinator, for purposes of strictly monitoring and
recording empirical/performance indicators.

8. Existing records of unimplemented, deferred-implementation,
suspended-release and/ or otherwise unacted, or archived commercial,
non-commercial and (religious-charitable) missionary visa applications
pending at the Executive Officer and/or Associate Commissioner shall be
immediately inventoried and transmitted without further delay to the BOC
Secretary, for BOC deliberations. For this purpose, the BOC shall
promptly coordinate with the Executive Officer and/or Associate
Commissioner concerned.

9. To achieve these objectives, all concerned are hereby enjoined
to endeavor faithful observance to this Memorandum Order. Non-compliance
shall be dealt with accordingly.

Send copies of this Memorandum Order to the following: (i) Office of
the President; (ii) Secretary of Justice; (iii) Associate Commissioners,
this Bureau; (iv) Executive Director, this Bureau; (v) Secretary, Board
of Commissioners, this Bureau; (vi) BI-IDAP Coordinator; (vii) PAGC and
(viii) The National Administrative Register, U. P. Law Center, Quezon
City.

This Memorandum Order shall take effect immediately.

Adopted: 03 June 2009

(SGD.) MARCELINO C. LIBANAN
Commissioner