Visa-Free Entry for Temporary Visits

The following guidelines provide information on the entry of foreigners as temporary visitors to the Philippines without a visa.

Temporary visits refer to periods of stay generally NOT exceeding 59 days for purposes of attendance to conferences, company meetings, workshops/seminars, medical treatment, and those trips of a personal nature for pleasure, such as tourism/sightseeing, visiting relatives and/or friends, recreation and amusement.

Foreign minor children below fifteen years of age travelling to the Philippines alone, or unaccompanied by either parent need to read about the Waiver of Exclusion Ground.

(FSC-90-13) 30-Day Visa-Free Entry for Temporary Visit 

Nationals of the countries listed below who are traveling to the Philippines for business or tourism purposes are allowed to enter the Philippines without visas for a stay not exceeding thirty (30) days, provided (1) they hold valid tickets for their return journey to port of origin or to their next port of destination, and (2) their passports are valid for a period of six (6) months beyond their contemplated period of stay in the Philippines.

* By virtue of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration’s announcement (http://www.immigration.gov.ph/faqs/travel-req), nationals of the countries marked with an asterisk or asterisks may be admitted into the Philippines with passports of less than six (6) months validity from date of arrival.

** Nationals of Israel and Brazil are visa-free for a period of fifty-nine (59) days from entry, pursuant to existing bilateral agreements with the Philippines.

Upon arrival in the Philippines, citizens of the above-listed countries who wish to stay longer than thirty days can apply for an extension at the nearest Bureau of Immigration office. Alternatively, they can submit an application for a temporary visitor’s visa at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo’s Consular Section prior to departure from Japan.

All other foreign travelers with passports issued by countries not listed above need to secure an appropriate visa before traveling to the Philippines.

(CIR-747-OCA-2015/FSC 53-2015) 14-Day Visa-Free Entry for Citizens of India on Temporary Visit

Effective 13 April 2015, nationals of India travelling to the Philippines as a temporary visitor may be granted a visa-free entry for an initial stay not exceeding fourteen (14) days, provided they possess the following:

1. Either a valid Australian, Canadian, Japanese, Singapore, UK, U.S. visa or permanent residence permit;
2. A national passport valid at least six months beyond the contemplated stay in the Philippines;
3. Return or onward ticket to the next country of destination;
4. No derogatory record with the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI), the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and the International Police (INTERPOL);

The 14-day visa-free entry may be extended by an additional seven (7) days for a maximum of twenty-one (21) day stay.

The visa-free entry may be availed in any port of entry (major international airports and secondary international hubs (SIHs), as well as in seaports by passengers on board cruise ships/vessels).

However, this type of admission cannot be converted to other types of visa categories.

Indian nationals intending to stay longer in the Philippines need to secure an appropriate entry visa from the Philippine Embassy.

(FSC-157-2016/SEC.I) – 7-Day Visa-Free Entry for Temporary Visit (Tourism/Business)

The following are allowed to enter the Philippines for pleasure and recreation purposes (as tourists or to visit friends or relatives), and/or business (of commercial, industrial or professional character) of a temporary nature without a visa for a stay not exceeding seven (7) days, provided they hold valid tickets for their return journey to port of origin or next port of destination and their passports are valid for a period of at least six (6) months beyond the contemplated period of stay:

1. Holders of British National Overseas (BNO) passports
2. Holders of Macao-Portuguese passports
3. Holders of People’s Republic of China passports coming for tourism purposes only and with either a valid Australian, Canadian, Japanese, Schengen, or US visa

(FSC-157-2016/SEC.I) – 14-Day Visa-Free Entry for Temporary Visit (Tourism/Business)

The following are allowed to enter the Philippines for pleasure and recreation purposes (as tourists or to visit friends or relatives), and/or business (of commercial, industrial or professional character) of a temporary nature without a visa for a stay not exceeding fourteen (14) days, provided they hold valid tickets for their return journey to port of origin or next port of destination and their passports are valid for a period of at least six (6) months beyond the contemplated period of stay:

1. Holders of Hong Kong Special Administrative (SAR) passports
2. Holders of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) passports

(FSC-137-12) – Visa-Free Entry for Foreign Nationals with Emergency Passports

Temporary visitors from countries whose nationals may enter the Philippines visa-free under E.O.408 (listed above) holding Emergency Passports issued temporarily by their own governments, may be allowed entry without a visa, provided that their emergency passport is valid for at least 6 months and is to be used from the country of origin to the Philippines and back, and that an outbound ticket can be presented at the port of entry in the Philippines.

Balikbayan Program

The Philippines has instituted the Balikbayan Program (through Republic Act 6768), under the administration of the Department of Tourism to attract and encourage overseas Filipinos to come and visit their country of birth.

Under this program, Balikbayans (overseas Filipinos and former Filipino citizens who had been naturalized as a citizen of a foreign country), including their spouse and unmarried children, can avail of certain benefits and privileges when they visit / return to the Philippines. The privileges include the following:

1. Tax-free maximum purchase in the amount of One thousand United States dollars (US$1,000.00) or its equivalent in other acceptable foreign currencies at Philippine duty-free shops subject to certain limitations as specified in Section 4 of RA 6768;
2. For foreign passport holders with the exception of certain nationals*, visa-free entry to the Philippines for a period of one (1) year;
3. Travel tax exemption as provided under Presidential Decree No. 1183, Executive Order No. 283, and other allied laws;

To avail of the visa-free entry with an allowed period of stay of up to one year, the foreign spouse and/or child of the overseas Filipino/former Filipino must observe the following requirements:

1. Must travel together with the Filipino or former Filipino spouse or parent;
2. Must travel with a valid passport with a period of validity not less than six months beyond the contemplated period of stay in the Philippines;
3. Must be able to present a return ticket to country of origin or next country of destination;
4. Must be able to show proof of blood relation to the overseas Filipino/former Filipino spouse or parent (i.e. NSO

Marriage Contract / Report of Marriage, Birth Certificate, Koseki Tohon with English translation, etc.) to the satisfaction of the immigration authorities at the port of entry.

The overseas Filipino/former Filipino must be able to show proof of current Philippine citizenship (i.e. valid Philippine passport) or former Philippine citizenship as applicable (i.e. NSO Birth Certificate, old Philippine passport etc.) to the satisfaction of the immigration port authorities.

Important Note

• The term “balikbayan” shall mean a Filipino citizen who has been continuously out of the Philippines for a period of at least one (1) year, a Filipino overseas worker, or a former Filipino citizen and his family, as this term is defined hereunder, who had been naturalized in a foreign country and comes or returns to the Philippines; and
• The term “family” shall mean the spouse and the children of the balikbayan who are not balikbayan in their own right traveling with the latter to the Philippines.
• *Family members of Balikbayans as well as former Philippine citizens who acquired the citizenship of countries NOT LISTED under EO 408 (please see the matrix of countries under the 21-day visa-free entry subsection in this website) are not entitled to the Balikbayan privilege. THEY MUST SECURE APPROPRIATE ENTRY VISAS PRIOR TO THEIR TRAVEL TO THE PHILIPPINES.
• Furthermore, nationals who are subjects of deportation/blacklist orders of the Philippine Bureau of Immigration are not covered by the Balikbayan privilege.

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