Immigration

Philippine Bureau of Immigration

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is charged with administering to Philippine law regarding immigration. This includes visitors not planning to immigrate to the Philippines. The Philippines is a developing country but that in no way insinuates it is a lesser country. I see a lot of visitors and immigrants that constantly put it down.

Things are different. However for nearly every negative you can usually find a reasonable positive regarding that issue. That’s one thing about the Philippines that I don’t think is really true of the USA government any longer. The USA is so regulated, that common sense is often thrown out the window. I’m not negative toward the USA either. Its a wonderful country where the standard of living is grand compared to many parts of the world.

Life is what you make of it. One can harp on the downside if they want too and live a lesser life or one can focus on the positives and make more out of life. My life is fuller in the Philippines without all the comforts from my homeland.

The Philippines being a developing nation seeks to bring in tourist and other foreigners. They need the inflow of cash these people bring. Most visitors come from Korea. If I recall, a distant second is the USA. The Bureau of Immigration handles all these people and its a huge job.

Temporary Tourist Visa

The Philippines makes it very easy to enter the country for many of us. It depends on your country of origin. Most people can enter the Philippines with only their passport. They can stay for 21 days. At the desecration of the BI one can extend that to 59 days and renew it every 59 days. Most people will have no trouble getting the extension. Under this provision of the law, your passport becomes your visa. Citizens of the following countries can enter this way:

Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bahrain
Barbados
Belgium
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Brazil*
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Costa Rica
Cote d’Ivoire
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia *new*
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel*
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Latvia *new*
Lithuania *new*
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Norway
Oman
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Spain
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Republic of Tanzania
United States of America
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Citizens holding passports from Brazil and Israel may stay for 59 days on a temporary tourist visa rather than 21 days.

Those holding passports of Hong Kong Special Administrative (SAR) passports, British National Overseas (BNO) passports, Portuguese Passports issued in Macao, or Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) passports may enter for only seven days.

I will be covering additional methods of entry into the Philippines in other articles on this site. The Temporary Tourist Visa is a non-immigrant visa.

Source: Bureau of Immigration