Marcos Jr. orders extension of e-visa for select nationalities to boost tourism: Palace | ABS-CBN

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Marcos Jr. orders extension of e-visa for select nationalities to boost tourism: Palace

Marcos Jr. orders extension of e-visa for select nationalities to boost tourism: Palace

ABS-CBN News

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Travelers arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on January 4, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file
Travelers arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 in Pasay City on January 4, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/file

MANILA— President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has ordered the extension of e-visas for Chinese, Indian, South Korean and Japanese travelers to boost the tourism sector, Malacañang said on Thursday.

E-visas allow travelers to a certain country to apply for a visa by booking a schedule online, which will only require passport numbers, mobile phone digits and email address.

The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) told Marcos Jr. this will help "achieve the government’s economic objectives, particularly in the country’s key sectors."

"To capture the tourism markets of China and India, PSAC has recommended the inclusion of Indian nationals under the visa-upon-arrival program and the extension of e-visa, which is currently available only for Taiwanese citizens, to Chinese, Indian, South Korean, and Japanese nationals," the Palace statement read.

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This also prompted Marcos Jr., it said, to tell the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to consider India's offer to "use their app regarding visas."

But Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said his agency has a separate program regarding the visa-upon-arrival, "which applies to certain Chinese nationals," the Palace said.

"Other citizens such as Americans, Japanese, Australian, Canadians, and Europeans could have a 14-day visa upon arrival," it added.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said they are still looking into "connectivity matters" regarding the adoption of an e-visa platform since there are "so much anti-fraud element" that still needs to be formed.

This will take "at least a semester to develop," Uy noted, as quoted by the Presidential Communications Office.

There are also several countries that will connect to the platform and its system for the transactions, he said.

Aside from these, the PSAC supposedly recommended the following:

  • Implementation of a Value-Added Tax (VAT) Refund Program for foreign tourists by 2024.
  • Removal of One Health Pass (OHP) or requirement of one form only for health, immigration, and customs.
  • Revocation of outdated advisories and loud-speaker announcements at airports.
  • Automatic inclusion of travel tax in all airline tickets.


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