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Departing from the Philippines - information for some Expat Visa holders.


Butch

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The RP has rules for departing Ex pats and foreign Nationals depending upon the Visa they have issued. Our vaccination Certificates were still asked for, despite not needing them for the UK, so luckily we had them, however, the "Travel Declaration" which is yet more bureaucracy asking for us to sign and accept the risks of travel, was not.

Whether or not this is strictly observed is anyone's guess. I do have a contact in immigration so will ask him via email this weekend.

For regular tourists on the VoE 30 day, or Balikbayan visa in a foreign passport, nothing is needed, however, if you've been in country longer than 6 months, are on a Business or other type of Visa issued by the BOI then you need to submit paperwork:

FOREIGN NATIONALS SHOULD SECURE ECC
BEFORE LEAVING – BI
 
 
Manila, Philippines---The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reminded foreign nationals to secure an Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC) at BI offices before leaving the country to avoid being denied departure.
 
BI Spokesperson Elaine Tan said that based on airport statistics, foreign nationals who failed to present their ECCs comprised 33% of travelers who were denied departure. “It is unfortunate that we have to deny the travel of our foreign friends, but we have to implement the law”, Tan said.
 
Section 22-A of the Philippine Immigration Act provides that a foreign national who is about to depart from the Philippines temporarily or for good should seek clearance from the Commissioner of Immigration to insure that the foreign national has no pending obligation with the government of the Philippines.
 
The following foreign nationals are required to secure regular ECCs at any of the 17 BI offices[1] and present the same upon departure:
a.     Holders of Temporary Visitor Visa (tourist visa) who have stayed in the Philippines for six months or more;
b.     Holders of expired or downgraded immigrant or non-immigrant visas;
c.      Holders of valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas who are leaving for good;
d.     Philippine-born foreign nationals who will depart from the Philippines for the first time;
e.      Holders of tourist visa with Order to Leave;
f.       Seafarers who have stayed in the Philippines for 30 days or more.
 
Holders of valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas who intend to return to the Philippines may secure the ECC at the airport.
 
A fee of about Php 1,210 shall be collected for the ECC. “Additional fees may be charged if the foreign national is found to have arrears”, said Tan. Fees collected shall be fully accounted and remitted to the National Treasury.
 
Applications for regular ECCs shall be filed three days prior to departure and shall be valid for one month upon issuance. Foreign nationals must submit the following requirements upon filing of the application:
a.     Application form;
b.     Photocopy of passport (bio page, visa pages, latest arrival);
c.      Original and photocopy of ACR I-Card;
d.     Photocopy of receipt of latest visa extension;
e.      Photocopy of order of downgrading (if applicable);
f.       Five pieces 2x2 photo
 
 
“We likewise warn our foreign friends against fixers who issue fake and fraudulent ECCs to unsuspecting victims. We encourage them to file the ECCs by themselves or through accredited agents listed in our website www.immigration.gov.ph”, reminded Tan.
 
 
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35 minutes ago, Butch said:

[...]

Holders of valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas who intend to return to the Philippines may secure the ECC at the airport.

Call me cynic, but that is a glaring loophole.

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Thankfully when I go it will only be for 7 days.

I am more interested in getting in to P.I. with the updated EHDC that seems to have had a few strings attached to it from 03 May. Whereas you could register 3 days before travel it looks like it has changed to 24 hours before departure with some tweaks.

The video shows the tweaks.

https://onehealthpass.com.ph/e-HDC/OHP/Registration/

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3 hours ago, Horizondave said:

Thankfully when I go it will only be for 7 days.

I am more interested in getting in to P.I. with the updated EHDC that seems to have had a few strings attached to it from 03 May. Whereas you could register 3 days before travel it looks like it has changed to 24 hours before departure with some tweaks.

The video shows the tweaks.

https://onehealthpass.com.ph/e-HDC/OHP/Registration/

we didn't bother registering 3 days prior, we basically registered the OHP and entered all the info along with proof of vacc and negative Antigen all at once within 24 hours before departure (uploaded as pdf files) and the QR code pass was emailed within seconds of submitting the info on the OHP page (get a hard copy printed if you can).

It was all in one when we did it, whereas initially OHP and E-DHC were treated as separate entities (a few months ago) but was not the case for us, Basically the E-DHC is a set of questions you need to answer within the OHP portal, as it's a declaration and as such, integral to the OHP. Unless they've changed the system (by that video it seems they may have), the E-DHC can be done within the 24 hours and gets approved as part of the OHP, there's no separate QR code or barcode for the E-DHC.

In summary, as long as you have your Neg Antigen and vacc cert in pdf or jpeg format, plus address in the RP, that's all you need for the OHP / E-DHC, the rest are questions such as flight, length of stay, previous health history and such.

The only difference I can see is the requirement for the Health Declaration questions to be answered 12 hours prior to departure whereas before (3 weeks ago) it was 24 hours.

Check in requires the OHP QR code to be presented, and also at the arrival Airport in the RP three times, once deplaning at the end of the corridor, once just before immigration at the booth and lastly at immigration itself. Remember also that some areas require a separate Health declaration from the OHP (Boracay for example).

Don't worry about the express lane bollocks, NAIA was empty when we arrived, plus from what I saw, it only applied to Filipino Nationals, the "foreign passport" lane was devoid of life. Also Clark and Cebu (I think) have departure taxes which need paying, but from NAIA it's included in the ticket price.

 

 

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31 minutes ago, Butch said:

we didn't bother registering 3 days prior, we basically registered the OHP and entered all the info along with proof of vacc and negative Antigen all at once within 24 hours before departure (uploaded as pdf files) and the QR code pass was emailed within seconds of submitting the info on the OHP page (get a hard copy printed if you can).

It was all in one when we did it, whereas initially OHP and E-DHC were treated as separate entities (a few months ago) but was not the case for us, Basically the E-DHC is a set of questions you need to answer within the OHP portal, as it's a declaration and as such, integral to the OHP. Unless they've changed the system (by that video it seems they may have), the E-DHC can be done within the 24 hours and gets approved as part of the OHP, there's no separate QR code or barcode for the E-DHC.

In summary, as long as you have your Neg Antigen and vacc cert in pdf or jpeg format, plus address in the RP, that's all you need for the OHP / E-DHC, the rest are questions such as flight, length of stay, previous health history and such.

The only difference I can see is the requirement for the Health Declaration questions to be answered 12 hours prior to departure whereas before (3 weeks ago) it was 24 hours.

Check in requires the OHP QR code to be presented, and also at the arrival Airport in the RP three times, once deplaning at the end of the corridor, once just before immigration at the booth and lastly at immigration itself. Remember also that some areas require a separate Health declaration from the OHP (Boracay for example).

Don't worry about the express lane bollocks, NAIA was empty when we arrived, plus from what I saw, it only applied to Filipino Nationals, the "foreign passport" lane was devoid of life. Also Clark and Cebu (I think) have departure taxes which need paying, but from NAIA it's included in the ticket price.

 

 

Just flying into NAIA and taxi to Angeles. My daughter's girlfriend's father is head of immigration at NAIA so I usually have a pretty easy arrival although I will make sure I have my required documents etc. I always carry docs in a plastic folder for ease of use.

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