BI to implement VIMS nationwide in 2010
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will expand its visa-issuance-made-simple (VIMS) program to include other areas in the provinces in line with the agency’s thrust to eradicate red tape and extend faster services to the transacting public.
Lawyer Normal Tansingco, BI chief of staff, said it had always been the intention of BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan to replicate the VIMS in other areas, particularly in the urban cities where the project had not yet been implemented.
“We intend to implement the VIMS in other major ports so that foreigners there can also enjoy the benefits and advantages of this project,” Tansingco said.
Launched in January 2008 and considered as Libanan’s flagship project, the VIMS sought to address perennial complaints by foreigners over the delays in the processing of their visa applications and other immigration documents.
Under the VIMS, the processing time for visa applications was reduced by an average of 82 percent and documentary requirements by 40 percent.
Aside from the bureau’s main office, the VIMS is now being implemented in 29 out of the 42 subports nationwide, including all satellite offices in Metro Manila, and at the immigration offices in Cebu, Zamboanga, Davao, Laoag, Angeles, Baguio, and Boracay.
Since its implementation, the VIMS has drawn praises from many sectors, including the various foreign chambers and embassies for its success in cutting red tape in the BI.
For successfully defeating the problem of red tape, the BI was adjudged by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) as third placer among some 100 government agencies who have taken part in the commission’s Integrity Development Action Plan program. (PNA)
