Koreans topped list of foreign students in RP

Students from South Korea topped the list of foreigners who took up elementary and high school education and short-term courses in the Philippines last year, statistics from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) showed yesterday.

Statistics from the BI student desk section disclosed a total of 26,823 Korean students have valid special study permits (SSPs) issued by the bureau.

Existing BI rules require foreigners who wish to take up elementary, high school and special courses in a Philippine school to apply for an SSP. “The SSP is different from the student visa or so-called 9(f) visa, which is issued to a foreigner taking up tertiary education in a Philippine college or university,” Teodulo Estrada, chief of the student desk, explained.

Estrada said he expects the number SSP applicants to shoot up further in June when the next school year opens.

“There has been a steady increase in the number of SSP applicants since we launched a crackdown on foreigners illegally studying in the country a few months ago,” he noted.

The same statistics showed Japanese SSP holders are second on the list with 1,041, followed by 336 Indians and 262 Chinese.

There are also a few hundred SSP holders from Taiwan, Indonesia, United States, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Iran.

As a result of the upsurge in SSP applicants, the government earned more than P54 million from fees paid by the foreign students, compared to the P42 million it generated a year ago.

Data from the BI alien registration division (ARD) also showed that Koreans also topped the list with over 6,000 9(f) visa holders or foreigners enrolled in various colleges and universities nationwide.

According to BI-ARD chief Danilo Almeda, included in the list are 3,395 Chinese, 2,980 Iranians and 1,004 Americans. Conrado Ching, Daily Tribune