MANILA - Short-term visitors to the Philippines may soon be able to extend their stay in the country simply by filing their applications online, the Bureau of Immigration announced Monday.

BI spokesman Dana Krizia Sandoval in a televised interview says the agency is set to launch their visa waiver online project by the end of the year, in a bid to attract more international tourists in the country.

"Yes nakatakda yang i-launch bago matapos ang taon, this is called the visa waiver - online project ito. Very simple po for short-term tourists na pupunta dito sa bansa from foreigners of 157 countries who are able to come here visa-free, pwede na silang mag-extend ng kanilang visa, online na lang po,” Sandoval said during the Laging Handa briefing.

“Napakadali para sa i-encourage din natin ang turismo, very convenient, very easy po para sa traveling public and we’re really encouraging people to use this platform,” she added.