Mexico 123 East Timor 119 Armenia 115 Lebanon 110 Cape Verde 109 Colombia 106 Suriname 106 Qatar 102 Others 1,617 Laws The Philippine Immigration Act prescribes fourteen different visas grouped into two broad categories: Section 9 visas (non-immigrant visas), for temporary visits such as those for tourism, business, transit, study or employment Section 13 visas (immigrant visas), for foreign nationals who wish to become permanent residents in the Philippines Some visas have been introduced by subsequent legislation or proclamation of the President which are not classified by the Philippine Immigration Act as either being a Section 9 or Section 13 visa. These visas are called special visas and are issued to groups such as retirees, investors and entrepreneurs. The Bureau of Immigration was given the sole authority to enforce and administer immigration and foreign nationals registration laws including the admission, registration, exclusion and deportation and repatriation of foreign nationals. It also supervises the immigration from the Philippines of foreign nationals. Commonwealth Act No. 473, the Revised Naturalization Law, approved June 17, 1939, provided that persons having certain specified qualifications may become a citizen of the Philippines by naturalization. List of immigrants by country of origin The following groups are relatively recent immigrants and expatriate groups that mostly immigrated in the modern era, specifically around the 20th century especially from post-WW2 Philippine independence to the present era. Recent modern immigrants, expatriates, foreign students, foreign citizens with work permits and resident aliens are all included. Common reasons for modern immigration into the Philippines include employment, education, tourism, marriage migration counter flow from returning overseas Filipino workers and emigrants, etc. See also Overseas Filipinos Tourism in the Philippines Sources Society of the Philippines