Republic Act No. 8247

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1

Section 3 of Republic Act No. 7919 is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 3 Coverage. – Upon effectivity of this Act, all aliens whose stay in the Philippines is otherwise illegal under existing laws, and who have entered the country prior to June 30, 1992 are hereby granted legal residence status upon compliance with the provisions of this Act, and shall not be prosecuted for crimes defined under Commonwealth Act No. 613, otherwise known as the Immigration Act of 1940, which are inherent to illegal residence such as the absence of valid travel documents or visa: Provided, That in no case shall alien refugees in the Philippines be qualified to apply under this Act.

"The legal residence granted to aliens who availed of the benefits of Executive Order No. 324 is hereby affirmed and given full faith and credit.

"The bar to prosecution shall apply only to such crimes or felonies committed due to acts necessary or essential to maintain a false or fraudulent or illegal residence, such as falsification of marriage, birth or baptismal certificates or travel documents, visas or alien certificates of registration."

Section 2

Subsection 4.3.1 of Section 4 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"4.3.1. One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) upon filing of the registration forms with the bank plus fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) per year over a three-year period from the payment of the first installment. The subsequent three (3) installment payments should be paid within twelve (12) months from the date of the first payment without any extensions. The integration fees paid by aliens granted legal residence under Executive Order No. 324 who registered anew under the provisions of this Act shall be refunded.

"In lieu of the above installment payments, the applicant may immediately pay Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00)."

Section 3

Section 6 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 6. Duties of the Bureau of Immigration. – Upon presentation by the applicant of the official receipt from the bank together with a certification from the bank or agency concerned, as the case may be that the civil registrar, BIR and NBI received copies of the registration forms, and the submission to the Bureau of Immigration of the registration forms defined in Section 4.2 hereof, the Bureau of Immigration shall immediately issue an Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR) to the applicant. The legal residence granted under this Act shall commence from the date the Bureau of Immigration issues the ACR and ICR.

"The Bureau of Immigration shall publish, at the applicant's cost, the names, ages, municipality/city of residence, and a photograph of each of the applicants in a national newspaper of general circulation at the end of each calendar month during the effectivity of the application period, as hereinafter provided in Section 8. The banks authorized under this Act to collect the fees herein required shall collect a publication fee of Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) from the applicant."

Section 4

Section 8 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"Sec. 8. Application Period. – The benefits extended by Section 3 can be availed of from June 1, 1995 to June 30, 1997."

Section 5

If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 6

All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Section 7

This Act shall take effect immediately after its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: December 20, 1996