Australian nun Patricia Fox is still allowed to stay in the country even without an existing visa and despite the deportation order of the Bureau of Immigration against her.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Sunday said Fox can stay until the BI decides on her application for extension of her missionary visa that expired last week.
He said the Department of Justice will also have to rule on her appeal.
“She applied for a renewal of her missionary visa. Until the BI acts on this application, she may stay [in the country],” Guevarra said in an interview.
The Justice chief explained that the deportation order of the BI against Fox also “will have to await the DoJ’s resolution on her appeal.”
Guevarra said the decision of the BI on whether to extend the nun’s missionary visa will be “without prejudice to the resolution of her deportation appeal.”
This means Fox may be given another missionary visa but could possibly still be ordered to leave the country should the DoJ turn down her appeal.
Fox, however, can get a reprieve from the courts.
“Any adverse ruling of the DoJ [on the deportation order] may be submitted for judicial review,” Guevarra said.
Last week, Fox filed for the issuance of another missionary visa after her visa expired on Sept.5.
Last month, the BI Board of Commissioners ordered the deportation of the missionary nun and also her inclusion in the bureau’s blacklist to prevent her from returning to the country.