MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is set to retire the use of paper-based departure cards as it expands the use of the eTravel platform launched in December last year.

Paper-based departure cards will be discontinued starting May 1, the BI said in a statement.

"The eTravel platform will soon be used for both arriving and departing passengers," BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

"Travelers no longer have to fill out departure cards, and instead may log in the online portal prior to their flight."

Meanwhile, starting April 15, departing passengers may log in to the eTravel platform "not later than 72 hours to not later than 3 hours from the scheduled time of their flight," said Dennis Javier, chairperson of the eTravel Technical Working Group.

Travelers were earlier required to fill out the paper-based departure card prior to their departure.

Tansingco said the complete shift to online is a "major step in streamlining documents presented by departing travelers, allowing for faster and more efficient immigration processing."

You can access the eTravel website here.

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