The Board received numerous complaints from applicants of Philippine immigrant visas on the difficulty of securing the requirement of a Police Clearance from their country of origin.

The Board decided to send queries to the different embassies concerning the policy on the issuance of police clearance and the Commissioners decided to require the same on a case to case basis. Replies from queries revealed that one country prohibits its issuance; a number of countries state that Filipinos are not required to secure one when applying for visas in their country, hence, they do not issue one based on the rule of reciprocity; and that other countries state that such requirement is necessary in securing passports and that said issuance is not necessary once the subject has a valid passport.

Finding merit to the explanations given by the different embassies regarding their policies, the Board hereby deletes the requirement of a Police Clearance from home country in the BI-Checklists of Requirements. However, the Bureau of Immigration reserved its right to require said clearance in appropriate cases.

Local Police Clearance and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearances shall continue to be submitted by applicants for all immigrant visas.

Let a copy of this Order be submitted to the U.P. Law Center.

This Order takes effect immediately.

Adopted: 18 Sept. 1997