THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday reported that its revenues dropped by 36.1 percent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted travel in and out of the country for several months.
From the record high income of P9.3 billion in 2019, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente lamented that last year’s revenue reached nearly P5.9 billion.
“We anticipated our revenues to decrease due to the pandemic,” said Morente. “With more foreign nationals going out of the country than going in, we were able to collect less revenue from visa applications,” Morente explained.
Morente also attributed the agency’s low revenue in 2020 to the suspension of transactions in the bureau for two months after the government declared a lockdown in March last year.
The BI chief, however, expressed optimism that its revenue would bounce back and gradually increase as the country awaits the arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine and once international travel restrictions are gradually lifted.
For her part, BI Finance Chief Judith Ferrera, said the bureau was poised to post another record high income in 2020 if the pandemic did not occur.
She noted that the agency started the year on a very positive note as its revenue collections in January and February amounted to P1.8 billion.
But revenues plunged to P480 million in March with the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine in the entire Luzon area.
BI’s revenues come from visa processing and extension fees, fines and penalties, clearance and certification taxes, and immigration tax.