(PHILIPPINES) — The Department of Justice is handling refugee status applications in the Philippines under DOJ Order No. 94, the rule that sets the procedure for determining refugee status for an alien in the country.

The process allows an application to be filed at the time of entry or at any reasonable time thereafter. Filing may be made directly with the Secretary of Justice or at the central office or any field office of the Bureau of Immigration at the port of entry or admission.

Applicants must use the form prescribed by the Secretary, complete it in triplicate, and submit it under oath or affirmation. The filing also requires supporting identity and travel records.

Those records include a passport or other travel document and a national or state identification card from the country of origin. Applicants filing with dependents must also submit documents such as a marriage certificate or birth certificate, as applicable.

Philippine rules tie eligibility to a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The standard places the focus on the reason an applicant says return is unsafe.

The same rules bar some claims. An applicant is ineligible if refugee status was already granted in another country with effective protection, or if a prior refugee application was denied unless there is substantive new information.

Once an application is complete, the Secretary must give it due course and interview the applicant to verify the claims. The decision that follows must be in writing.

The Bureau of Immigration said it is coordinating with the Department of Justice on updated operating rules for refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and other persons of concern. Those safeguards are meant to prevent premature removal while claims are being assessed.

The framework described by the Department of Justice lays out a process that starts at the border but does not end there. A person may apply on entry, though the order also allows filing later within a reasonable time.

That filing route gives applicants more than one point of contact inside the system. Some can go directly to the justice secretary, while others can submit papers through the Bureau of Immigration, either at its central office or in any field office at the port where they entered or were admitted.

Form and format carry the same weight as the claim itself at the start of the case. The application must follow the Secretary’s prescribed form, appear in triplicate, and carry an oath or affirmation before it can move into the next stage.

Identity papers also anchor the record. A passport, another travel document, and a national or state identification card from the country of origin form part of the required submission, while family-linked claims require civil documents for spouses or children where those relationships are part of the application.

Eligibility turns on grounds long used in refugee screening: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The order describes the fear of persecution as needing to be well-founded, not simply asserted.

Previous protection elsewhere can close the door. So can an earlier refugee denial, unless the applicant presents substantive new information.

After the paperwork clears the first review, the Secretary must interview the applicant to verify the claims. The written ruling requirement gives the process a formal endpoint, whether the claim succeeds or fails.

The Bureau of Immigration’s coordination with the DOJ points to a broader administrative effort around people seeking protection, including refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, and others of concern. The stated safeguard is narrow and practical: prevent removal before authorities finish assessing the claim.

Department of Justice procedures, as outlined under DOJ Order No. 94, place the refugee process inside a legal and administrative track rather than an ad hoc one. Applications go to named offices, use a prescribed form, require sworn statements and identity papers, and end in a written decision after an interview.

That structure leaves two agencies at the center of the process. The Department of Justice decides refugee claims, and the Bureau of Immigration serves as a filing point and a coordinating agency while the government updates operating rules intended to keep applicants from being removed before their cases are resolved.