Just Arrived in Manila

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, dnavinnie said:

Thank you for sharing. I will be flying there to pick up my wife and step-daughter in November. I sent an email with all of my requirements for a 9A Visa to the Philippine Consulate in New York. How long did it take you to get your temp visa? 

As mentioned above, its about a week not including the mailing times.  I also went through the NYC Consulate as well.  Just make sure they give you the correct wording on the visa.  I originally received the 9a visa based on having a spouse in the Philippines, but I was actually applying for being a parent of a Filipino child.  I had to resend my passport for them to correct it.  You need to make sure its correct because they will most likely ask for supporting documentation at Immigration in the Philippines.  I had to show the PSA birth certificate of my son, whereas you may be asked to show the marriage certificate, although @RO_AHcan confirm if he was asked for this on arrival. 

[RO_AH 1,659]

1 hour ago, flicks1998 said:

You need to make sure its correct because they will most likely ask for supporting documentation at Immigration in the Philippines.  I had to show the PSA birth certificate of my son, whereas you may be asked to show the marriage certificate, although @RO_AHcan confirm if he was asked for this on arrival. 

I was trying so hard to make sure that I did not forget anything, but honestly I forgot to bring my marriage certificate. Luckily they never asked me for it or any documentation other than my hotel and transportation booking. At the departure airport the ticket  agent asked me for my visa. For an instant I almost pooped my pants thinking I forgot the most important thing. Then I realized and told the agent it is a sticker inside my passport lol.

[flicks1998 1,044]

2 hours ago, RO_AH said:

I was trying so hard to make sure that I did not forget anything, but honestly I forgot to bring my marriage certificate. Luckily they never asked me for it or any documentation other than my hotel and transportation booking. At the departure airport the ticket  agent asked me for my visa. For an instant I almost pooped my pants thinking I forgot the most important thing. Then I realized and told the agent it is a sticker inside my passport lol.

Wow, maybe lucky or maybe they just stopped asking  .  I would think though bringing the certificate may be on the safe side.  

[dnavinnie 132]

15 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

As mentioned above, its about a week not including the mailing times.  I also went through the NYC Consulate as well.  Just make sure they give you the correct wording on the visa.  I originally received the 9a visa based on having a spouse in the Philippines, but I was actually applying for being a parent of a Filipino child.  I had to resend my passport for them to correct it.  You need to make sure its correct because they will most likely ask for supporting documentation at Immigration in the Philippines.  I had to show the PSA birth certificate of my son, whereas you may be asked to show the marriage certificate, although @RO_AHcan confirm if he was asked for this on arrival. 

I really appreciate everyone's help. The Consulate site says to email the documents first. I sent them 4 days ago and haven't got a response back. Did you guys just send in all of the requirements by mail without an email response first?

I will make sure I have any document they might want to see. They can be very picky.

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, dnavinnie said:

I really appreciate everyone's help. The Consulate site says to email the documents first. I sent them 4 days ago and haven't got a response back. Did you guys just send in all of the requirements by mail without an email response first?

I will make sure I have any document they might want to see. They can be very picky.

I wrote to the Consulate to reconfirm requirements as they were confusing at the time.  This was in early November 2020.  At the time I did it, the confusion was around proof of the child or spouse being in the Philippines as it was unclear on the web-site.  However I had to have a notarized document from the Philippines stating that my son or guardian watching my son was physically present in the country.  Once I receive that document, I printed out the list of requirements and included that in my mail to the Consulate, just to show them that I included everything they asked for.

 

If you sent a SASE envelope with tracking, then you could probably check that tracking number to see if they have sent it back to you yet.  From date of receiving my application to date of mailing back to me, they had my passport for 5 business days.  Again this is in November 2020 so there may be slight changes to the process.

[RO_AH 1,659]

7 hours ago, dnavinnie said:

I really appreciate everyone's help. The Consulate site says to email the documents first. I sent them 4 days ago and haven't got a response back. Did you guys just send in all of the requirements by mail without an email response first?

I will make sure I have any document they might want to see. They can be very picky.

I did it all through email until they asked me to send the packet along with the notarized application

[RO_AH 1,659]

5 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

If you sent a SASE envelope with tracking, then you could probably check that tracking number to see if they have sent it back to you yet. 

Yes! However for me I also got a phone call when they were ready to send it back.

Edited October 12, 2021 by RO_AH

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, RO_AH said:

Yes! However for me I also got a phone call when they were ready to send it back.

But you had a nicer Consulate   Its a nice, warm environment in Honolulu compared to NYC in November  The employees may have been feeling chirpy.  

[RO_AH 1,659]

29 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

But you had a nicer Consulate   Its a nice, warm environment in Honolulu compared to NYC in November  The employees may have been feeling chirpy.  

Well, I know people ☺️ that helps.

[Talako 785]

 

Nvm

Edited October 13, 2021 by Talako

[RO_AH 1,659]

3 minutes ago, Talako said:

In the spirit of perpetual change:

 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/philippines-eases-capital-s-curbs-allows-quarantine-free-entry-1.1665569

 

Bold is my emphasis.

But it remains to be seen if they will allow people without a visa. At least they are moving in the right direction as I finish my quarantine. LOL

[flicks1998 1,044]

2 hours ago, RO_AH said:

But it remains to be seen if they will allow people without a visa. At least they are moving in the right direction as I finish my quarantine. LOL

Its only for countries on the green list which the US is not.  If you look at the list of countries, its basically countries who dont do any testing anyway, so naturally their reported numbers will be lower   There really is no logic being used between the green, yellow and red lists.

[Talako 785]

I posted that and then removed it once I read a little more closely.  It was for green list countries only which leaves the US out.

 

Hopefully, somewhere in the 143+ changes to come within the next week, things will slowly improve.   

[jg121783 3,915]

5 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

Its only for countries on the green list which the US is not.  If you look at the list of countries, its basically countries who dont do any testing anyway, so naturally their reported numbers will be lower   There really is no logic being used between the green, yellow and red lists.

There is no logic in quarantining people who aren't sick either but here we are. All part of the covid madness.

[John & Rose 7,239]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:57 AM, RO_AH said:

I arrived in Manila yesterday. I flew PAL. They "require" you to wear a mask and face shield and the poor flight attendants look like they are dressed to enter a bio-hazard situation. If you do not have a face shield they will provide one. My mask was off (below my chin ) and shield was above my head or off for most of the flight. Same with most of the passengers in the premium economy section. I have no idea what it was like in economy section but I would assume about the same. After we landed and were at the gate, someone from the coast guard came onboard and read us all of the rules. After that a PAL attendant gave us all of the rules fir a second time. You are not allowed to stand up until they have finished and instructed you that you can stand. I was the first passenger to get off the plane so I am not sure if the process was longer due to waiting once it got crowded, but this is my experience. You have to stop at a total of 3 desks ( actually 3 sections each has multiple desks with people to assist you) and all of them have to scan your QR code from the One Health website where you enter your your information before you fly. Each desk asks a few questions and then they send you along. They are just some health questions, showing proof of quarantine hotel booking and transportation. All 3 desks took around 5 minutes. Next off to customs. That was less than a minute. Off to baggage claim. My bags were priority so they were already pulled from carousel and waiting. I grabbed a cart and loaded  my bags then off to the exit. Another coast guard person took a quick look at my papers and let me pass. I walked outside and there is my driver holding a sign with my name and hotel on it. I think he also scanned my qr code and then off to Hotel. Hotel scanned my qr code and sent me to my room. The door is cracked open so you can walk in. You are not given a room key so you can't leave. On the plane when they tell you the rules they warn you that if you break any rules you will have to start quarantine all over. There was information waiting for me to read when I entered the room. A little later the hotel front desk called me to go over the rules and information such as meals. We were told that it will be 7 days in hotel with arrival date being the first day and then receive PCR test. 8th day get results and certificate which allows you to go to LCU for the remainder of quarantine under whatever rules they impose. Most are not that strict from what I am told.

How did you answer the OneHealth app?  It only allows your permanent home address to be in the Philippines.