Mr Lee Posted February 4, 2009 Posted February 4, 2009 Bureau of Immigration, Public Attorney's Office launch free legal aid to foreigners http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...ubCategoryId=65This might be good news for any expat who finds themselves short of funds and in trouble with Immigration. Anyone ever have any serious problems with Immigration or get deported? How does all that work and can you ever come back into the Philippines? Anyone care to share? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markham Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 With the creation of these two offices, Libanan said, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnrxx99 Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 Don't understand it myself. If it's free where is the 20% extra income coming from?Anyway, would anyone trust a BI lawyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markham Posted February 5, 2009 Posted February 5, 2009 Well, let's just consider a few things:- The correct name for "BI" is "Bureau for Immigration and Deportations" BID is a major revenue-generating agency of the Philippine Government BID already acts as both prosecuting counsel and judge on all deportations, blacklistings etc BID's new free attorney service will benefit disgruntled Philippine citizens who could now more easily file applications for deportation and/or blacklisting against foreigners. Foreigners might be able to have a free consultation but I'd be extremely surprised if they'd be fully-represented at a BI Tribunal free of charge. Remember, it's a revenue-generating agency not a philanthropic NGO Would you - could you - trust a lawyer whose salary is paid by the very same organisation with whom you have a problem? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted February 5, 2009 Author Posted February 5, 2009 Don't understand it myself. If it's free where is the 20% extra income coming from?Anyway, would anyone trust a BI lawyer?I would guess that for anyone who was broke and going to be deported anyway, it would be better than nothing....... While I would not expect to not be deported under those circumstances, I would guess that the lawyer they appoint to help you, would at least have to follow the law within reason, and tell you your options....... Let's hope none of us ever has to find out. As for lawyers who get paid by a system working for you, public defenders in the states do that all the time and basically they are there to guide people and they do get criminals shorter sentences but rarely go to trial to defend them, and on occasion that does happen and people have gotten off on technicalities because of those lawyers skills amd knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markham Posted February 6, 2009 Posted February 6, 2009 I would guess that for anyone who was broke and going to be deported anyway, it would be better than nothing....... While I would not expect to not be deported under those circumstances, I would guess that the lawyer they appoint to help you, would at least have to follow the law within reason, and tell you your options....... Let's hope none of us ever has to find out.If you're being deported anyway, you have two options: go quietly without a fuss, or, find yourself handcuffed to an immigration officer and frog-marched onto the plane. You need a lawyer to tell you that?!!As for lawyers who get paid by a system working for you, public defenders in the states do that all the time and basically they are there to guide people and they do get criminals shorter sentences but rarely go to trial to defend them, and on occasion that does happen and people have gotten off on technicalities because of those lawyers skills amd knowledge.You may not realise this but all deportations are ordered by the Commissioner of the BID and not all deportations arise out of court cases. It is a relatively easy matter for a Philippine citizen to cause the deportation (or blacklisting) of a foreigner simply by filing an administrative case with BID. Such cases do not go to trial in (say) the Regional Trial Court in the same way as a civil or criminal case would; they are decided by a lawyer employed by the Bureau. Until now, that citizen would have to pay a lawyer to prepare and file the case and to attend the "hearing". But, with the advent of free legal services provided by the Bureau, it will be far easier and cheaper for a disgruntled citizen to settle old scores against foreigners.Yet another reason for foreigners to keep a low profile and not to upset any of the locals, I would suggest.There is also legal assistance in the UK for those who transgress the law and who are unable to pay for legal representation. A suspect will be offered the services of the "Duty Solicitor", normally before any questioning at the Police Station (there are exceptions to this, especially in terrorism cases when a suspect can only see a Solicitor after the Police have completed their initial investigation). If the suspect is charged the Solicitor will brief one or more Barristers who represent the accused in Court. Incidentally, it is not uncommon for both the prosecuting and defence Barristers to come from the same set of Chambers -- Barristers are self-employed and pay rent for a "seat" in Chambers and, unlike Solicitors, can not sue for their fees but must rely on the Chambers' Clerk to get their dues from appointing Solicitors. The Clerk, who is on a percentage, negotiates the acceptance fee and "repeats" with Solicitors - a "repeat" being one day in Court.Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retired Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 Bureau of Immigration, Public Attorney's Office launch free legal aid to foreigners http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...ubCategoryId=65This might be good news for any expat who finds themselves short of funds and in trouble with Immigration. Anyone ever have any serious problems with Immigration or get deported? How does all that work and can you ever come back into the Philippines? Anyone care to share? Do have some knowledge of American expat being deported because he was a neighbor . His overstay was 7 years plus . Eventually he contacted the US Embassy in Manila . They can and will give you your basic options which are essentially two . Either pay all the back fines and fees to update to current status in which you can stay in the country but obviously you would no doubt be on their watch list . Or if you don't have the money , which he didn't , the Embassy will intercede on your behalf .They will not loan you the money to update nor buy you a plane ticket back to the US . What they will do is file the case with Philippine BID and you wait till it gets processed . In his case it took almost a year . You will be expected to have the money for the one way ticket back to the US . You will be blacklisted and not allowed to return to the country .The biggest advantage is in not being shaken down by various Immigration offices . And you would have to contact Embassy before being caught to avoid being put in jail . He was quoted amounts far exceeding $5,000 to update prior to contacting the Embassy . According to the neighbor the maxium payable amount is ( or was ) $5,000 regardless of the overstay limit . The biggest drawback of course would be the amount of time it takes to process the case especially since he was basically broke in the first place .Frankly i don't know if i would trust BID employees or not in terms of the fee structure to update . And this case resolved last year so it may well be that there are changes since . I once visited 6 different lawyers here in Cagayan De Oro and was basically given 6 different opinions regarding a potential legal matter . It was not related to Immigration but you get the drift . Laws here can and are frequently open to interpertation from the attorney , the judge and everyone else in between . In fact an expat friend is currently going through a court case that is now past the 1 year point and has only reached the court of appeals so you can imagine how much he has spent on the way .In the end i guess it comes down to how much principle you can afford . Hope no one needs this kind of advice experience but for sure i would contact the appropriate Embassy first before embarking on any couse of action . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted February 7, 2009 Posted February 7, 2009 Bureau of Immigration, Public Attorney's Office launch free legal aid to foreigners http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?artic...ubCategoryId=65This might be good news for any expat who finds themselves short of funds and in trouble with Immigration. Anyone ever have any serious problems with Immigration or get deported? How does all that work and can you ever come back into the Philippines? Anyone care to share? Do have some knowledge of American expat being deported because he was a neighbor . His overstay was 7 years plus . Eventually he contacted the US Embassy in Manila . They can and will give you your basic options which are essentially two . Either pay all the back fines and fees to update to current status in which you can stay in the country but obviously you would no doubt be on their watch list . Or if you don't have the money , which he didn't , the Embassy will intercede on your behalf .They will not loan you the money to update nor buy you a plane ticket back to the US . What they will do is file the case with Philippine BID and you wait till it gets processed . In his case it took almost a year . You will be expected to have the money for the one way ticket back to the US . You will be blacklisted and not allowed to return to the country .The biggest advantage is in not being shaken down by various Immigration offices . And you would have to contact Embassy before being caught to avoid being put in jail . He was quoted amounts far exceeding $5,000 to update prior to contacting the Embassy . According to the neighbor the maxium payable amount is ( or was ) $5,000 regardless of the overstay limit . The biggest drawback of course would be the amount of time it takes to process the case especially since he was basically broke in the first place .Frankly i don't know if i would trust BID employees or not in terms of the fee structure to update . And this case resolved last year so it may well be that there are changes since . I once visited 6 different lawyers here in Cagayan De Oro and was basically given 6 different opinions regarding a potential legal matter . It was not related to Immigration but you get the drift .Laws here can and are frequently open to interpertation from the attorney , the judge and everyone else in between . In fact an expat friend is currently going through a court case that is now past the 1 year point and has only reached the court of appeals so you can imagine how much he has spent on the way .In the end i guess it comes down to how much principle you can afford . Hope no one needs this kind of advice experience but for sure i would contact the appropriate Embassy first before embarking on any couse of action .The best course of action would not to get ones self into that predicament in the first place,7 years over stay is a long time and why do people go to live in another country if they have no money to do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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