The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has inaugurated its bay service one-stop-shop (OSS) at the Port of Manila, the largest international shipping gateway to the country.
The new office, located at Pier 15, South Harbor, will serve as a 24/7 outpost for on-duty boarding officers for arriving and departing vessels at the port of Manila.
Bay service section (BSS) chief Alnazib Decampong said it was one of his priority projects aimed at improving the conduct of boarding formalities of BI officers.
“It is high time that we modernize immigration services at the ports as it will provide accessible, swift, and safe crew change services for signing on and signing off seafarers, as well as provide immigration services to our stakeholders in Manila,” he added.
In 2020, the government established crew change hubs and opened the country’s borders to international vessels to facilitate crew change operations that is essential for the unhampered flow of supply chains across the globe.
The country, being the world’s largest supplier of seafarers, opened a green lane for crew change for seafarers to allow vessels to refresh their manpower speedily and safely.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente has pushed for the improvement of immigration services nationwide by providing facilities that would allow easier processing in accordance with the ease of doing business law.