The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that, effective April 15, nationals of seven (7) additional countries will now enjoy visa-free privilege to enter the Philippines for a period of stay of 30 days. These countries are Belize, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The privilege aims to promote tourism and investments from these countries, all of which have been emerging as key players in the international economic community and which have growing bilateral ties with the Philippines.
“The DFA fully supports national efforts to attract more tourists and potential investors to the Philippines. In particular, the DFA, through its various embassies and consulates abroad, has been playing an active role in helping the Department of Tourism reach its target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2015,” said DFA Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis.
The decision is a product of inter-agency coordination with the Bureau of Immigration, Department of Tourism, Department of Justice, Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the National Security Council.
Meanwhile, Somalia has been removed from the list of countries whose nationals enjoy visa-free privilege. Somali nationals may apply for visas at Philippine embassies or consulates in their countries of origin or residence.
Nationals of countries who may enter visa-free can avail of the privilege by presenting a national passport valid for at least six months beyond the contemplated period of stay and a return ticket to the country of origin or onward ticket to the next country of destination.
A list of all countries with visa-free privilege, now numbering 157, is available at the DFA website at https://www.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/site-administrator/visa-information.