MANILA, Philippines — Fully vaccinated foreign nationals may enter the Philippines without an entry exemption document starting April 1, Malacañang announced Friday.
The government’s pandemic task force approved the entry of foreigners without an entry exemption document provided they comply with the applicable visa requirement, and immigration rules.
Foreign nationals must be fully vaccinated, except for minor children below 12 years old traveling with their fully vaccinated parents. They must also possess an acceptable proof of vaccination, which include any of the following:
- World Health Organization International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis
- VaxCertPH
- National or state digital certificate of the country or foreign government which has accepted VaxCertPH under a reciprocal arrangement
- Other proof of vaccination permitted by the IATF.
“There is no more listing of which country the foreign national originates from. As long as they’re able to present valid proof of vaccination and [comply with] other guidelines then they will be accepted in the country,” acting Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Kristian Ablan said.
Fully vaccinated foreigners must present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours of negative laboratory-based antigen test taken 24 hours prior to the date and time of departure from the country or origin in a continuous travel to the Philippines, excluding layovers, provided they have not left the airport premises or have not been admitted into another nation during such layover.
They also need to have passports valid for at least six months at the time of their arrival to the Philippines and obtain a travel insurance for COVID-19 treatment costs with a minimum coverage of $35,000 for the duration of their stay in the country.
Once allowed entry into the country, foreign nationals are no longer required to observe facility-based quarantine but they should self-monitor for any sign and symptom for seven days. If they manifest any symptoms, they are required to report to the local government of their destination.
The Philippines has been progressively easing entry rules and scrapping pandemic restrictions after a sharp drop in COVID-19 cases. The country reopened its borders to foreign tourists in February.
The Department of Health has confirmed over 3.67 million COVID-19 cases, with 58,771 deaths.