Foreign immigrants in the Philippines

There are about 200,000 foreign nationals who are now staying in the Philippines on immigrant and non-immigrant status, according to the Bureau of Immigration.  As of 1st January 2011, the bureau has registered 90,413 foreign immigrants and 98,733 non-immigrants.

It reported that over the past three years, the number of foreign migrants in the Philippines increased 50 percent from 60,554 in 2007 to 90,413 in 2010.  This was linked to the large number of Chinese nationals who migrated to the Philippines.

In 2010 alone, the number of immigrants from mainland China rose from 30,809 in 2009 to 61,372 in 2010.  This was despite the travel ban imposed by Hong Kong on the Philippines, following the hostage-taking incident in Manila in August that left eight tourists dead.

Koreans are the second largest group of foreign immigrants, numbering 28,090 in 2010, or representing a slight increase from 24,876 in 2009. Most Chinese and Korean migrants are students, businessmen, and missionaries who prefer Metro Manila, with its high-rise condominiums and cheap apartments. 

Other foreign immigrants in the Philippines are Americans (24,909), Indians (23,317), Japanese (8,931), British (4,781), Taiwanese (3,640), Iranians (3,260), Germans (2,965), and Australians (2,645).