Chinese top list of registered aliens in Philippines in 2012

Chinese nationals topped the list of registered foreigners in the Philippines last year, the Bureau of Immigration said Wednesday.

Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said that of the 203, 753 foreigners with resident visas in the Philippines in 2012, about 59,000 of them were Chinese.

The total registered aliens in the country last year was 6 percent higher than the 194,356 foreigners listed in 2011, he said.

Following the Chinese were South Koreans numbering to about 31, 000, and the Americans with some 26,000, David said.

He added that more than 47,000 of the registered aliens were non-immigrants while more than 46,000 were immigrants. There are also about 5,700 aliens with special non-immigrant visa.