PH reopens for tourism, business travel to fully vaxxed from non-visa required countries starting Feb. 10

[MarryMe987654 244]

Something to look forward to:

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/1/28/PH-entry-fully-vaxxed-passengers-non-visa-required-countries-tourism-business.html?fbclid=IwAR29HLMNVQym-tjB7Nxq_MKQgfcFkHdciBdsVLx7Zj6QwU1uX4G3xZfZx-c

 

 

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) — The Philippines will again accept fully vaccinated foreigners from non-visa required countries for tourism and business purposes starting next month, Malacañang announced Friday.

 

“Kung matatandaan po natin nung IATF Reso 150-A natin, dapat sinimulan na po natin ito nung Dec. 1 pero sinuspend po natin pansamantala. So this now would start Feb. 10,” acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a virtual briefing.

[Translation: If you recall IATF Resolution 150-A, we should have started (reopening) last Dec. 1 but we suspended it temporarily.]

 

These foreign nationals must hold passports valid for at least six months during their arrival, and must have a return or outbound ticket to their country of origin or next country of destination.

 

Travelers must also present proof for COVID-19 vaccination status, which include the World Health Organization international certificates of vaccination and prophylaxis, VaxCertPH, or the national digital certificate of their government that also accepts VaxCertPH as status proof.

 

Minors are exempted from these requirements according to Nograles. Fully vaccinated foreigners are likewise not included in the arrival quota set by the Department of Transportation and its one stop shop.

 

Nograles announced too the IATF’s move to lift green, yellow, and red list classifications for other nations beginning Feb. 1.

 

All travelers must only present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure and need not undergo facility quarantine anymore. Instead, they will self-monitor for any symptoms for seven days.

 

Starting Feb. 16, the country will only allow entry to fully vaccinated foreigners. 

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by MarryMe987654

[AlaMike 231]

I am sure this is a relief to many who haven't seen loved ones since this whole "covid" thing started.

Now, lets see how long this last before the Philippine Gov. decides to change it.

[Commish10 427]

1 hour ago, MarryMe987654 said:

Something to look forward to:

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/1/28/PH-entry-fully-vaxxed-passengers-non-visa-required-countries-tourism-business.html?fbclid=IwAR29HLMNVQym-tjB7Nxq_MKQgfcFkHdciBdsVLx7Zj6QwU1uX4G3xZfZx-c

 

 

=============

 

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) — The Philippines will again accept fully vaccinated foreigners from non-visa required countries for tourism and business purposes starting next month, Malacañang announced Friday.

 

“Kung matatandaan po natin nung IATF Reso 150-A natin, dapat sinimulan na po natin ito nung Dec. 1 pero sinuspend po natin pansamantala. So this now would start Feb. 10,” acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a virtual briefing.

[Translation: If you recall IATF Resolution 150-A, we should have started (reopening) last Dec. 1 but we suspended it temporarily.]

 

These foreign nationals must hold passports valid for at least six months during their arrival, and must have a return or outbound ticket to their country of origin or next country of destination.

 

Travelers must also present proof for COVID-19 vaccination status, which include the World Health Organization international certificates of vaccination and prophylaxis, VaxCertPH, or the national digital certificate of their government that also accepts VaxCertPH as status proof.

 

Minors are exempted from these requirements according to Nograles. Fully vaccinated foreigners are likewise not included in the arrival quota set by the Department of Transportation and its one stop shop.

 

Nograles announced too the IATF’s move to lift green, yellow, and red list classifications for other nations beginning Feb. 1.

 

All travelers must only present a negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure and need not undergo facility quarantine anymore. Instead, they will self-monitor for any symptoms for seven days.

 

Starting Feb. 16, the country will only allow entry to fully vaccinated foreigners. 

 

I saw that this morning. I do not think they will accept our crappy vaccination card. 

[Adventine 3,196]

Full text of the actual resolution here, from the Bureau of Immigration's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=307386154762497&set=pcb.307386204762492

 

Could've sworn I read some travellers going back to the Philippines and having no issues presenting the white CDC vax card (which would fall under section 2.c. below). Can't find a verifiable source right now, though.

 

[Mojito 17]

I want to book a flight right now, but need full details to make sure there are no gotchas and this is legit. The negative PCR test in 48 hours has me wondering where to go for this flying out of TPA. 

[Talako 785]

If you dislike FB, here it is from the horse's mouth:

 

https://doh.gov.ph/sites/default/files/health-update/IATFResolution159.pdf

 

[MarJhi 962]

What I am hoping is that if the country is open for tourism, then maybe also the lightened restrictions will lead to more activity at the embassy and they can start catching up on the backlogs. 

 

I wish they had a carve-out for those of us who cannot take the vaccine due to health risks.

[Will&Christine 52]

What is considered fully vaccinated nowadays? Two shots? Three shots? Do they still require vaccinated travelers to quarantine at hotels? I know plenty of people who still caught covid even with 3 shots. Not very effective. Might well as let everyone in, vaccinated and unvaccinated. Less paperwork to deal with.

[MarJhi 962]

1 hour ago, Mojito said:

I want to book a flight right now, but need full details to make sure there are no gotchas and this is legit. The negative PCR test in 48 hours has me wondering where to go for this flying out of TPA. 

I saw this story on a couple of dozen media sites on the internet 12 hours ago, seems 100% legit. I took a look at Expedia and they removed the "look here for Covid travel restrictions for your destination" tab when I searched for flights/hotels. However, looks like the flights were already filling up and the prices were pretty high. Maybe once they get everyone back to work and a normal pre-covid flight schedule up and running the prices will come back down to earth.

[MarJhi 962]

5 minutes ago, Will&Christine said:

What is considered fully vaccinated nowadays? Two shots? Three shots? Do they still require vaccinated travelers to quarantine at hotels? I know plenty of people who still caught covid even with 3 shots. Not very effective. Might well as let everyone in, vaccinated and unvaccinated. Less paperwork to deal with.

My fiance said the Philippines was requiring 2 shots for it's citizens, no booster, so I would assume the same would hold for tourists.

 

I think they are hurting for money, can't keep that many people out of work forever without a problem at some point. If it were no vaccination needed I would book a flight tomorrow.

[Mojito 17]

17 minutes ago, MarJhi said:

I saw this story on a couple of dozen media sites on the internet 12 hours ago, seems 100% legit. I took a look at Expedia and they removed the "look here for Covid travel restrictions for your destination" tab when I searched for flights/hotels. However, looks like the flights were already filling up and the prices were pretty high. Maybe once they get everyone back to work and a normal pre-covid flight schedule up and running the prices will come back down to earth.

I just checked February-March prices and its around $4,000 round trip minimum in coach right now.  It was as low as $1200 round trip in 2019. Ouch. Waiting for the air competition to reduce these prices, its like $10,000 round trip in 1st class now. 

[MarJhi 962]

4 minutes ago, Mojito said:

I just checked February-March prices and its around $4,000 round trip minimum in coach right now.  It was as low as $1200 round trip in 2019. Ouch. Waiting for the air competition to reduce these prices, its like $10,000 round trip in 1st class now. 

Yup, first place I went was to check prices. The airfare alone was higher than my airfare and hotel combined on my last trip.

 

But they have been running a minimal number of flights for 2 years so they can't be ready to go full speed in 2 weeks. It will take some time.

[Adventine 3,196]

10 minutes ago, Mojito said:

I just checked February-March prices and its around $4,000 round trip minimum in coach right now.  It was as low as $1200 round trip in 2019. Ouch. Waiting for the air competition to reduce these prices, its like $10,000 round trip in 1st class now. 

 

If you haven't already, use flights.google.com to track flight prices over time, across several different airlines. I've set email price alerts for my target travel dates in Sept. Round trip in coach is going for ~$1200 right now.  Could be less depending on your itinerary.

[top_secret 2,421]

1 hour ago, Talako said:

If you dislike FB, here it is from the horse's mouth:

 

In the case of the Philippines, formal legal pronouncements by the government are often made on Facebook.

[MarJhi 962]

3 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

In the case of the Philippines, formal legal pronouncements by the government are often made on Facebook.

I can confirm that! Many don't own televisions, but most everyone has a cell phone, so Facebook is where they get news and information.