Questions about Travel Tax & Terminal Fee at NAIA

[tolitzpogi 37]

(I would have searched for this topic here in the forums but it seems the custom google search feature is not working... anyway, I need help and advice from those who have recently come back from the Philippines...)

Hello again my friends!

Just a little background: my wife went back to the Philippines more than a week ago to pick up her two K2 daughters to bring here to the U.S. They will be leaving the Philippines on 06/25/2015 via Asiana Airlines, with a 9 hour layover at Incheon. Prior to my wife going there, we had our AOS interview (06/10/2015) and she was approved, and they put a I-551 stamp on her Philippine passport because we showed the IO her itinerary; two days later she got on the plane.

Her GC arrived less than 5 days ago so she is now a legal permanent resident.

My questions are regarding the travel tax and terminal fee at NAIA. Here are what I know:

• Site shows that travel tax is P1,620/person and terminal fee is P550/person.
• It also shows that after February 2015, terminal fees are now included in airline ticket prices, and there was no need to pay it at the terminal itself
• I also read that LPRs don't need to pay travel tax, or at the very least, only need to pay P200 instead of the full P1,620

My questions are:

• If I bought my wife's and her daughters' tickets for Asiana Airlines from Travelocity, is it safe to assume that the price we paid there already includes the terminal fee and they no longer need to pay it prior to leaving?
• Will my wife still need to pay for the travel tax even though she is already LPR? She does not have her physical GC with her (I have it with me and I can bring it to LAX once she arrives). Will copies of her GC as well as the welcome letter sent by USCIS suffice as proof?
• And if not, will the I-551 stamp on her passport serve as verification that she is approved as an LPR?

If anyone has recently come back from the Philippines and can help me with this one, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

[Hank_ 9,174]

(I would have searched for this topic here in the forums but it seems the custom google search feature is not working... anyway, I need help and advice from those who have recently come back from the Philippines...)

Hello again my friends!

Just a little background: my wife went back to the Philippines more than a week ago to pick up her two K2 daughters to bring here to the U.S. They will be leaving the Philippines on 06/25/2015 via Asiana Airlines, with a 9 hour layover at Incheon. Prior to my wife going there, we had our AOS interview (06/10/2015) and she was approved, and they put a I-551 stamp on her Philippine passport because we showed the IO her itinerary; two days later she got on the plane.

Her GC arrived less than 5 days ago so she is now a legal permanent resident.

My questions are regarding the travel tax and terminal fee at NAIA. Here are what I know:

• Site shows that travel tax is P1,620/person and terminal fee is P550/person.
• It also shows that after February 2015, terminal fees are now included in airline ticket prices, and there was no need to pay it at the terminal itself
• I also read that LPRs don't need to pay travel tax, or at the very least, only need to pay P200 instead of the full P1,620

My questions are:

• If I bought my wife's and her daughters' tickets for Asiana Airlines from Travelocity, is it safe to assume that the price we paid there already includes the terminal fee and they no longer need to pay it prior to leaving?
• Will my wife still need to pay for the travel tax even though she is already LPR? She does not have her physical GC with her (I have it with me and I can bring it to LAX once she arrives). Will copies of her GC as well as the welcome letter sent by USCIS suffice as proof?
• And if not, will the I-551 stamp on her passport serve as verification that she is approved as an LPR?

If anyone has recently come back from the Philippines and can help me with this one, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

It is never safe to ASSuME.

Read through the list of fees on your airfare, just to be sure, to see if the travel tax is included, odds are it wasn't being you purchased the ticket through travelocity and outside the Philippines, and lastly your wife's flight originates in the USA. I would bet money no travel tax was collected. Plus you wife should be exempt from paying it being an LPR.

As for the 551 stamp in the passport, not sure how up to speed the customs people are at NAIA regarding the 551 stamp, I would email her a copy of her GC and other documents.

Of course there will be travel tax for her children

[tolitzpogi 37]

Thanks for the reply Hank.

On Travelocity, I bought my wife a one-way ticket to Manila via China Airlines (which charged $247.80 in taxes/fees on top of the ticket price), and three one-way tickets back to Los Angeles via Asiana Airlines (which charged $58.60 in taxes/fees) for her and the kids. Now I don't know if any of those fees included the terminal fee, but I have no problem having them pay those fees. I am aware that the two kids will still need to pay the full travel tax and terminal fees - I just wanted to make sure my wife brings enough pesos at NAIA to cover all those taxes and fees, that's why I needed to know so I can prepare.

I have emailed my wife a copy of the welcome letter mailed by USCIS, a copy of the front and back of her GC, and also the letter where the GC was stuck to when it arrived for good measure.

If my wife is exempt from travel tax, then she only needs to pay P3,240 for the two kids plus P1,650 terminal fee for all three of them for a total of P4,890. I didn't want her to bring back unusable pesos so I wanted to make sure whether she should bring P5,000 or P6,500 to the airport

Hopefully someone who recently came back from the Philippines can share their experience.

Thanks again Hank!

[Hank_ 9,174]

I am in the Phils right now, but we won't be heading home for a couple more months. But my wife has her green card in her possession.

I will stay with no travel tax was added to the airfare as the tickets were not purchased within the Philippines. Only real question you have is whether customs at NAIA will accept her 551 stamp and a photo copy of her green card to avoid paying the travel tax, and for that I don't know. I know of a Filipina that traveled with her AP card back to the Phils and had no issue not paying travel tax when she flew back.