The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reminded foreign nationals intending to travel to the Philippines that they must secure the appropriate visa to be able to enter the country.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the Philippines remains closed to foreign tourist due to the Covid-19 pandemic, following resolutions from the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), thus only aliens with valid and existing visas are allowed entry.
Morente added that tourists or temporary visitors who are coming here for business, humanitarian or other meritorious reasons should apply for 9(a) visas and entry exemption documents (EED) from any of the Philippine embassies or consulates abroad.
“Until now we have been getting reports of aliens being turned back at our airports because they don’t have visas at all,” he said.
He lamented that exclusions of improperly documented aliens at the airports continue despite the bureau’s repeated reminders and public advisories on the need to have a visa via its website, the social media sites and the press.
Morente again reminded airlines that it is also their responsibility to see to it that foreigners who booked their flights to the Philippines have valid visas.
BI reminds aliens they need visas to enter PH
The BI Chief issued the statement upon learning that three foreigners were recently turned back by immigration officers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) for failure to present valid entry visas.
Two of the passengers, an Australian and a German, were excluded on Tuesday after arriving from Singapore while the other one, an American, arrived last Saturday from Los Angeles, USA.
They all claimed during interview they were unaware that they needed to get visas before coming here.
Two of them said they are married to Filipinos who were not traveling with them while the other one said he was going to visit his Filipina fiancée.
“Airlines are subjected to administrative fines if they board improperly documented foreign nationals,” said Morente. “Hence we wish to reiterate the importance of proper documentation to avoid such incidents,”
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