Over 5,000 Japanese participated in the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) 2024 annual report.

In a statement Sunday, BI registration chief Jose Carlitos Licas said the Japanese were among the top ten registered foreign nationals who took part in the annual report.

Licas said the top 10 included 6,448 South Koreans, 6,019 Indonesians, 5,214 Japanese, 3,392 Britons, and 2,804 Malaysians.

Included in the top five were 49,556 Chinese, followed by 26,123 Indians, 11,671 Vietnamese, 10,912 Americans, and 7,800 Taiwanese.

Licas said 80 percent of foreigners reported in person in their field, extension, and satellite offices as well as in select Metro Manila malls, while 8,000 of them reported and paid online.

For his part, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said a total of 153,651 foreigners who had immigrant and non-immigrant visas took part in this year’s annual report from January 1 to March 1.

According to Tansingco, this was higher by 13 percent compared to the previous year’s annual report where 136,065 foreign nationals participated, which was a “significant” increase.

He said it was a “positive sign” that more foreigners are applying for residency in the country compared to the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Tansingco said the government was able to collect 16 million from the 2024 annual report, which is higher than the 11 million gathered from last year’s report.

Under the Alien Registration Act, BI-registered foreigners are directed to make the annual report within the first 60 days of the year.

Foreign tourists or temporary visitors are not required to participate in the report. Jaspearl Tan/DMS