US embassy warns Filipinos of fake visa payment requests

MANILA, Philippines — The United States Embassy in the Philippines has issued an urgent warning about fraudulent visa application schemes targeting Filipino visa applicants. 

In a statement on Friday, January 24, the embassy warned Filipinos about scammers who are apparently impersonating US government employees to defraud individuals through unauthorized payment requests.

The embassy emphasized that official communications are exclusively sent through email addresses ending in "@state.gov" or "[email protected]."

Communications regarding specific visa cases through other platforms, including social media and messaging apps like Facebook, Viber, or WhatsApp, are not legitimate, the embassy said.

"Visa fee payments are never requested via email, phone, social media, or messaging applications," the embassy said.

Legitimate payments can only be processed through two official channels: the travel.state.gov portal for immigrant visas or ustraveldocs.com for nonimmigrant visas, according to the embassy.

"We encourage applicants to use the information on our official website at ph.usembassy.gov/visas to help safeguard their information and avoid becoming a victim," the embassy said.

"Applicants must follow the payment steps on our website only. Other sources are not valid or legitimate," it added.

Applicants who believe they have been duped by a fake visa agent may reach out to the embassy through the email address "[email protected]."  

The embassy opened a new visa application center in Parañaque City in September last year as part of changes to its visa processing system.  

Since September 28, applicants have been required to schedule a separate appointment at the new center for photo capture and fingerprint scanning before proceeding to the US embassy on Roxas Boulevard for the actual interview.