Responding to various complaints on the cumbersome process in securing a Philippine visa, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) promulgated Memorandum Order No. AFF-06-017 on 03 November 2006.

Meant to encourage alien immigrants and non-immigrants to immediately comply with immigration requirements and to effectively regulate the movements of aliens in the country, the Memorandum Order allows applicants to present original documents to the Hearing Officer for comparison and verification, in lieu of the submission of original authenticated documents.

To consolidate visa applications, the Memorandum Order also requires the Law and Investigation Division (LID), Board of Special Inquiry ( BSI), Makati, and PEZA extension offices and all subports to forward all processed visa applications to the Office of the Commissioner for review and preparation of the agenda, and subsequent deliberation by the Board of Commissioners.

Finally, the Memorandum Order directs the various divisions and sections in the BI to perform their requisite functions to ensure that the 9(g) One Stop Shop Processing Center shall be fully operational within ten (10) days from the issuance of the Memorandum Order.