Mandatory Waiting Periods for Lifting Immigration Blacklist Orders (BLOs) in the Philippines

In the Philippines, a Blacklist Order (BLO) against a foreign national is considered permanent by default. It remains in effect until a verified petition for lifting is filed and officially approved by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and other relevant authorities. 

Petitions to lift BLOs, however, cannot be filed at will. Under Immigration Administrative Circular No. SBM-2014-001 (“Prescribed Periods for Lifting of Entries from the Blacklist”), a prescription or mandatory waiting period must lapse before a motion can be considered.

Generally, these waiting periods, which range from three months to ten years, serve to distinguish the gravity of different immigration violations and provide the Bureau of Immigration (BI) with a structured framework for exercising discretion based on general welfare and national security. 

3-Month Mandatory Waiting Period

Foreign nationals excluded under the following grounds must observe a three-month prescription period, calculated from the date of the exclusion order’s implementation, before petitioning for the lifting of their names from the immigration blacklist.

• Public Charge. Persons likely to become public charges (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (5))
• Incompetence. Persons over fifteen years of age, physically capable of reading, who cannot read printed matter in ordinary use in any language selected by the alien, but this provision shall not apply to the grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, wife, husband, or child of a Philippine citizen or of an alien lawfully resident in the Philippines (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (9))
• Companions of Incompetent Individuals. Persons accompanying an excluded person who is helpless from mental or physical disability or infancy, when the protection or guardianship of such accompanying person or persons is required by the excluded person, as shall be determined by the Commissioner of Immigration (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (11))
• Accompanying Family Members. Persons who are members of a family accompanying an excluded alien, unless in the opinion of the Commissioner of Immigration, no hardship would result from their admission (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (10))
• Unaccompanied Minors. Children under fifteen years of age, unaccompanied by or not coming to a parent, except that any such children may be admitted at the discretion of the Commissioner of Immigration, if otherwise admissible (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (12))
• Stowaways. Stowaways, except that any stowaway may be admitted in the discretion of the Commissioner of Immigration, if otherwise admissible (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (13))
• Improper Documentation. Persons not properly documented for admission as may be required under the provisions of the PIA (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (17))

6-Month Mandatory Waiting Period

Foreign nationals excluded under the following grounds must observe a six-month prescription period, calculated from the date of the actual implementation of the deportation order or inclusion in the blacklist, before filing a petition for lifting: 

• Voluntary Deportation. Deported by virtue of a Voluntary Deportation Order
• Overstaying. Overstaying for less than one (1) year

6-Month Mandatory Waiting Period (After Cure)

Foreign nationals excluded under the following grounds must also observe a six-month prescription period, calculated from the date after being cured of the condition or illness, before filing a petition for lifting: 

• Insanity. Idiots or insane persons and persons who have been insane (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (1))
• Loathsome or Contagious Disease. Persons afflicted with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, or epilepsy (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (2))

12-Month Mandatory Waiting Period 

Foreign nationals falling under these categories must wait one year before applying to have their names removed from the blacklist. This twelve-month period begins either on the day they were officially excluded or on the day their deportation order was carried out:

• Prostitutes. Prostitutes, procurers, or persons coming for any immoral purposes (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (4)) and any alien who practices prostitution or is an inmate of a house of prostitution or is connected with the management of a house of prostitution, or is a procurer (PIA, Sec. 37(a) (5))
• Polygamists.  Persons who practice polygamy or who believe in or advocate the practice of polygamy (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (7))
• Paupers, Vagrants, and Beggars (PIA, Sec. 29(a) (6))
• Unskilled Manual Laborers. Persons coming to perform unskilled manual labor in pursuance of a promise or offer of employment, express or implied, but this provision shall not apply to persons bearing passport visas authorized by Section Twenty of the PIA (PIA, Sec. 29(a)(14))
• Indigent. Persons who have been removed from the Philippines at the expense of the Government of the Philippines, as indigent aliens, under the provisions of section forty-three of the PIA, and who have not obtained the consent of the Board of Commissioners to apply for readmission (including foreign nationals who were ordered to leave on the ground of indigency) (PIA, Sec. 29(a)(16))
• Entry Through Misrepresentation. Any alien who enters the Philippines after the effective date of the PIA by means of false and misleading statements or without inspection and admission by the immigration authorities at a designated port of entry or at any place other than at a designated port of entry (PIA, Sec. 37(a)(1))
• Entry Without Inspection. Any alien who enters the Philippines after the effective date of the PIA by means of false and misleading statements or without inspection and admission by the immigration authorities at a designated port of entry or at any place other than at a designated port of entry (PIA, Sec. 37(a)(1))
• Drunk and Disorderly. Those who are drunk and disorderly at the port of entry.
• Non-Compliance with Inspection. Those who refuse to comply with inspection procedures.
• Unruly or Discourteous Behavior. Those who display unruly behavior or discourtesy to immigration officials
• Illegal Entrants. Any alien who enters the Philippines after the effective date of the PIA by means of false and misleading statements or without inspection and admission by the immigration authorities at a designated port of entry or at any place other than at a designated port of entry (PIA, Sec. 37(a)(1))
• Violation of Limitation of Stay. Any alien who remains in the Philippines in violation of any limitation or condition under which he was admitted as a nonimmigrant (PIA, Sec 37(a)(7))
• Overstaying. Overstaying for more than one year.
• Cancelled Visa (PIA, Sec. 23 in relation to Sec. 45 or 46))
• Undocumented or
• Improperly Documented