New Color Coded ACR I-Cards from July 2015
Manila, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will issue ACR I-Cards (Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Cards) with the new, color-coded design. These shall be issued beginning Thursday, July 16, 2015.
The new design, with specific colors designated for particular visa types, shall be microchip-embedded, and with added security features to protect against fraud.
Pursuant to Operations Order No. SBM-2015-017, the new ACR I-Cards will be issued in ten different colors to represent the various visa categories issued by the BI, i.e.,
Visa Category and Assigned Color
Permanent Resident – Light Yellow
Native Born – Bronze
Special Non-Immigrant – Dark Purple
Worker – Blue
Probationary Resident – Light Purple
Voluntary Registrant – Red
Tourist – White
Student – Aqua Blue
Treaty Trader – Gray
Gratis – Green
BI Commissioner Siegfred Mison said that the new design intends to facilitate immigration processing, both at the airports and the BI offices.
The color codes will help identify various types of visas even from afar. All information encoded in the cards will likewise be accessible at the airports (initially at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) through the updated Border Control Information System (BCIS).
With the new design, visa holders need not bring along the documents to support the issuance of the ACR I-Cards because all information shall be encoded in the microchip.
The design will also state additional, key information such as the name of the school (for student visa), the name of the company (for work visa), and the Special Security Registration Number (SSRN)—a unique number assigned to every registered foreign national.