BI eased its rules on foreign tourist
21 February 2008
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has further eased its rules on foreign tourists by allowing them to immediately avail of an extended length of stay in the country upon their arrival at the airports, it was learned yesterday.
A memorandum order issued recently by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan provides that any national categorized as a “no-visa required” temporary visitor arriving in the Philippines may be granted an initial allowable stay of 59 days instead of the previous 21 days. Libanan said the tourist may apply for the extended visa upon arrival in the airport of entry, provided he pays the required visa fee of US$50, a P500 express lane fee and P10 legal research fee.
He said that by applying for the visa upon his arrival, the tourist need no longer secure a visa waiver from the bureau’s main office or any of its field offices if he later wishes to stay in the country for more than 21 days.
Libanan explained that only so-called “no-visa required” nationals can avail of the visa privilege.
The said nationals refer to foreign tourists, such as Americans, Britons, Japanese, and Canadians, who are not required to secure entry visas before traveling to the Philippines.
They are admitted for an initial period of 21 days upon their arrival in any of the ports of entry but if they wish to stay longer they must secure a visa waiver from the BI’s visa extension office to be able to extend their initial stay to 59 days.
Under the new rules, however, the said nationals may now immediately be granted an initial stay of 59 days upon his arrival if he wishes, according to Atty. Floro Balato, BI spokesman.
Balato said the new rules would definitely encourage more tourists to prolong their stay as they no longer have to go to the BI office to secure a visa waiver if they wish to stay here for more than 21 days.
Balato also stressed that visa-required nationals, such as Indians, Chinese and those from the Middle East, cannot avail of the privilege as they have to secure entry visas from Philippine consulates in their countries of origin before coming here.
Bureau of Immigration