Philippines Opens Its Doors To All Foreign Tourists Starting April 2022

Beginning April 1, there will be no limit on the number of international travelers who can enter the country through any of the country’s ports of entry.

Following the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to lift the arrival quota for unvaccinated passengers in all ports of entry, the Department of Tourism (DOT) issued the announcement on Friday (March 11).

Under Resolution 164-A, the IATF allowed arriving passengers to submit a negative laboratory-based antigen test result obtained within 24 hours of departure as an alternative to the initial requirement of a negative RT-PCR test obtained 48 hours prior to departure from the point of origin.

On April 1, Philippine embassies and consulates will resume issuing visas, coinciding with the elimination of all immigration quotas.

“This recent breakthrough allows all fully vaccinated travelers from all nations to enter the country, indicating that the country’s tourism business is on the mend,” Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said.

“We applaud our colleagues in the IATF for agreeing such steps that will aid the sector’s revival in the coming months,” said the DOT. “We are optimistic that all of this will result in an increase in international visitors to the country throughout the summer season,” Puyat added.

Passport holders from Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR are also permitted to enter for a duration of up to 14 days under IATF Resolution 164-A.

IATF Resolution 164, on the other hand, allows the reciprocal recognition of Covid-19 immunization certificates from Croatia, Cyprus, and Nepal, which are among the 157 countries whose nationals are not required to obtain a visa to enter the Philippines under Executive Order 408.

“While local tourists have been the backbone of our comeback, we are looking forward to welcoming more international visitors in the coming weeks.” “This initiative to further relax our borders and recognize the vaccination certificates of other nations is really significant,” she noted, noting that our main overseas markets are visa-free countries.

On February 10, the Philippines reopened its doors to international leisure travelers from visa-free countries.

The number of arrivals at the country’s principal airports reached 76,736 as of March 9, 2022, according to figures from the Department of Transportation. Foreign tourists account for 43,249 of the total, while balikbayans account for 33,487.