Trip to Philippines - Have some questions

[jg121783 3,915]

My wife, myself and our two kids are planning on going to the Philippines in December to visit her family. I have some questions regarding this trip hopefully you guys can answer. First question is how long can our US citizen son and myself stay in the Philippines (I assume they still give you the visa at the airport, correct me if I am wrong)? I know last time I went before we were married I had a 30 day visa but I thought if you were married to a citizen it is longer than 30 days. I am asking because I am currently looking at buying our plane tickets and I can get the best price if we stay a few days longer than 30 days.

 

Second question is regarding covid rules. We are unvaccinated so it is my understanding we will have to have a negative covid test and stay in a quarantine when we arrive. How long according to current rules do we have to be in quarantine and can anyone recommend a reasonably priced hotel we can stay at for the quarantine?

 

I am sure I will have more questions as we get closer to the trip so I will reply to this post when I come up with more.

[RO_AH 1,659]

I know as a spouse and her children, can get a BB visa if traveling with your wife, which is good for 1 year. If your wife is the parent of the children, you should get them their Philippines passport.

 

As for unvaccinated travel, read below and always follow the Facebook page of Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines

https://www.facebook.com/officialbureauofimmigration

 

[jg121783 3,915]

2 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

I know as a spouse and her children, can get a BB visa if traveling with your wife, which is good for 1 year. If your wife is the parent of the children, you should get them their Philippines passport.

 

 

My wife and step son are Philippines citizens and we are actually going to Chicago next Monday to renew their Philippines passports. Our 4 year old son is a US citizen born in the US and we are about to apply for his US passport. Are you saying we should get him a Philippines passport and if so what is the process and purpose of doing so and is it too late to add it to our appointment next Monday?

[RO_AH 1,659]

32 minutes ago, jg121783 said:

My wife and step son are Philippines citizens and we are actually going to Chicago next Monday to renew their Philippines passports. Our 4 year old son is a US citizen born in the US and we are about to apply for his US passport. Are you saying we should get him a Philippines passport and if so what is the process and purpose of doing so and is it too late to add it to our appointment next Monday?

I don't have all of the details, but if it's like the reverse (born in PH-US citizen parent) you file a CRBA. You still want to get the US passport. But also get them the Philippines passport. Dual citizenship is the best. My sons (now 3 and 4) are both dual citizens with both passports.

I would think that you could report the birth while in Chicago, but depending on the process and when you are traveling, you may just want to take care of it in the Philippines. I am not an expert on the PH process, but like I said if her mom is a PH citizen she your child should be able to acquire citizenship even being born in USA.

 

Here is the info for report of birth

http://chicagopcg.com/reportofbirth.html

Edited July 5, 2022 by RO_AH

[jg121783 3,915]

Just purchased our plane tickets on Korean Air. Got a 15 hour layover in Seoul on the way there. Anyone know what the requirements are to leave the airport or if my wife and step son would even be able to with Philippines passports? I am reading they have short guided tours of the city from the airport which might be an interesting way to kill time. Otherwise it looks like there is a lot to do and even places to sleep in the airport.

[jg121783 3,915]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:26 PM, RO_AH said:

As for unvaccinated travel, read below and always follow the Facebook page of Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines

https://www.facebook.com/officialbureauofimmigration

 

It appears from everything I have been reading only unvaccinated Philippines citizens can enter the Philippines. Unvaccinated foreigners cannot. Please tell me I am missing something here otherwise I just wasted a lot of money on plane tickets. Hopefully there is an unvaccinated US citizen here who can confirm they traveled to the Philippines.

[RO_AH 1,659]

4 hours ago, jg121783 said:

It appears from everything I have been reading only unvaccinated Philippines citizens can enter the Philippines. Unvaccinated foreigners cannot. Please tell me I am missing something here otherwise I just wasted a lot of money on plane tickets. Hopefully there is an unvaccinated US citizen here who can confirm they traveled to the Philippines.

Best to check out the Facebook page. You can even message them and they answer pretty fast.

 

On 7/4/2022 at 2:26 PM, RO_AH said:

https://www.facebook.com/officialbureauofimmigration

 

[RO_AH 1,659]

4 hours ago, jg121783 said:

It appears from everything I have been reading only unvaccinated Philippines citizens can enter the Philippines. Unvaccinated foreigners cannot. Please tell me I am missing something here otherwise I just wasted a lot of money on plane tickets. Hopefully there is an unvaccinated US citizen here who can confirm they traveled to the Philippines.

I did just re-read that and you are correct about the part I posted. It is for Filipino only. Here is the section on Foreigners. It seems that Children of a Filipino 12 and under just follow whatever protocol the Filipino Parent does.

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

Another good place to check is the US Embassy website in that particular country.  For the Philippines its at the below link:

 

https://ph.usembassy.gov/covid-19-and-travel-information/

 

It does state that foreigners who are not vaccinated are not allowed into the Philippines at this time.

 

Entry to the Philippines:  Although travel to the Philippines is now permitted, U.S. citizens should know and comply with arrival and departure requirements as promulgated by the Philippine government , which generally include the following as a minimum:

• Being fully vaccinated, except for minor children below age 12 traveling with fully vaccinated parents who can present acceptable proof of vaccination.  Unvaccinated foreign nationals will not be allowed admission into the Philippines, and;

• Passport valid for at least six (6) months at the time of entry.

When making travel plans, check destination-specific travel requireme

[jg121783 3,915]

I think as of right now we are going to hold onto the plane tickets we have and see if the rules change between now and whenever our deadline for getting a refund or changing dates is. My wife thinks the new president will change the rules but no one can predict the future. It appears as though the rules are different in Cebu and technically speaking anyways unvaccinated foreigners can come there so maybe that will put some pressure on the new president but who knows.  So we'll wait until around the last possible day we can get a refund then decide what to do at that point. Our plan B would be to plan for next summer and hope the rules change by then. Our last option is my wife and step son go without our son and myself.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

On 7/10/2022 at 4:18 PM, jg121783 said:

I think as of right now we are going to hold onto the plane tickets we have and see if the rules change between now and whenever our deadline for getting a refund or changing dates is. My wife thinks the new president will change the rules but no one can predict the future. It appears as though the rules are different in Cebu and technically speaking anyways unvaccinated foreigners can come there so maybe that will put some pressure on the new president but who knows.  So we'll wait until around the last possible day we can get a refund then decide what to do at that point. Our plan B would be to plan for next summer and hope the rules change by then. Our last option is my wife and step son go without our son and myself.

Where did you see that unvaccinated people can fly into Cebu from abroad?

[jg121783 3,915]

10 hours ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

Where did you see that unvaccinated people can fly into Cebu from abroad?

Apparently practically speaking they cannot. However the governor of Cebu issued an executive order allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter Cebu with a quarantine. She cited wanting to bring back tourism as a reason. I guess because of this all international flights bound for Cebu are being rerouted to Manila from what I have read. I'm not sure about that but I am fairly certain the governor of Cebu did issue the executive order.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

7 minutes ago, jg121783 said:

Apparently practically speaking they cannot. However the governor of Cebu issued an executive order allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter Cebu with a quarantine. She cited wanting to bring back tourism as a reason. I guess because of this all international flights bound for Cebu are being rerouted to Manila from what I have read. I'm not sure about that but I am fairly certain the governor of Cebu did issue the executive order.

How old is your son? It looks like if he is below 12 then he can go to the Philippines without being vaccinated

[jg121783 3,915]

1 hour ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

How old is your son? It looks like if he is below 12 then he can go to the Philippines without being vaccinated

He is 4. My wife doesn't feel comfortable traveling with him without me going also. My step son who is a Philippines citizen is 15 so that is a little different. Those two might end up going alone next summer worst case if the rules don't change.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

11 hours ago, jg121783 said:

He is 4. My wife doesn't feel comfortable traveling with him without me going also. My step son who is a Philippines citizen is 15 so that is a little different. Those two might end up going alone next summer worst case if the rules don't change.

According to everything I have read a 4 year old can go no problem without having to be vaccinated. That's what it says above as well