FOREIGNERS with existing visas may now enter the Philippines.
Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said the bureau will be implementing the resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) allowing the entry of aliens with valid and existing visas beginning May 1.
The new ruling includes aliens with existing immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
“In compliance with the IATF ruling, foreign residents, students, investors, and workers who are holding valid and existing visas may now return to the Philippines,” said Morente.
Foreign nationals qualified under the government’s Republic Act No. 6768 or the Balikbayan Program may also be allowed to enter visa-free.
The said program allows the spouse and the children of a Filipino national traveling with the Filipino spouse or parent, or a former Filipino who has acquired the citizenship of another country, to enter visa-free if part of the 157 countries covered by EO 408.
Morente said foreign nationals who are holders of valid and existing Special Resident and Retirees Visa (SRRV) or Section 9(a) temporary visitors’ visas, may be allowed entry provided they present an entry exemption document issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs upon arrival.
Arriving passengers, except for diplomats and members of international organizations holding Section 9(e) visas, are required to present a pre-booked accommodation for at least seven nights in an accredited quarantine hotel of facility, and are subject to Covid-19 testing at the quarantine facility on the sixth day from date of arrival.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Carlos Capulong said they will still be implementing previous regulations on the presentation of valid pre-booked quarantine accommodation.
“Those who fail to present their quarantine arrangements shall be denied entry and shall be boarded immediately on the next available flight back to their port of origin,” said Capulong.
The BI also said following previous IATF ruling, those coming from India or who have a travel history to India within the last 14 days preceding arrival are still barred from entering until May 14.