Metro Manila is the capital city of the Philippines. Foreign leisure travelers from visa-free nations can begin entering the Philippines on February 10,2022 if they are properly immunized.
After the Department of Tourism’s application was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat made the news today, Friday, January 28. (DOT).
Because of the IATF-approval EID’s of the DOT’s application, foreign leisure travelers can now enter the country. Department officials believe that this will be a positive move for job recovery, especially in tourism-dependent towns, and for enterprises that had previously been forced to close due to the pandemic,” Puyat added.
According to a tourism official, “We are sure that we can keep pace with our ASEAN neighbors who have already made similar strides to reopen to international tourists after years of coordination between national agencies, industry players, and the various local government units (LGUs).”
Only tourists from nations granted visa-free entrance to the Philippines will be covered by the recent IATF-EID decision, according to Puyat.
On December 1, 2021, the IATF-EID agreed to allow the admission of fully vaccinated tourists from Green List nations, territories and jurisdictions, however the omicron variant was put on hold.
The IATF-EID announced earlier today that the classification system for countries will be suspended as of February 1, 2022. As of Feb. 1, returning overseas Filipinos who have been completely vaccinated will no longer be needed to undergo quarantine as long as they can provide a negative result of an RT-PCR test taken 48 hours prior to departure from their port of origin.
Quarantine for qualified leisure travelers who can show a negative result from an RT-PCR test done 48 hours before to departure from the point of origin will be eliminated starting Feb. 10 after consultation with health experts.
“We are also aware of the virus’s unpredictability, so there is no room for complacency. All tourism establishments will be thoroughly monitored for health and safety violations, according to Puyat.
Tourists from visa-free nations can enter the country if their passports are valid for at least six months when they arrive and they have return tickets to their home country or the country to which they plan to go to next, according to the IATF-EID standards.
Proof of immunization against COVID-19 recognized by the IATF-EID is also required for leisure visitors. VaxCertPH, which can be found at https://vaxcert.doh.gov.ph, is provided by the Department of Health of the Philippines, and a national/state digital certificate of a foreign government has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal arrangement, except where otherwise permitted by the IATF, are also included.
EO 408 specifies which nations’ nationals are exempt from the requirement of a visa for entry into the Philippines. The complete list can be seen here: https://dfa.gov.ph/list-of-countries-for-21-day-visa
