Philippines Starts E-visa for Indians starting April 2024

In a notable development, Tarina Sardana, a businesswoman, became the first Indian to travel to the Philippines using an e-Visa, as announced by the Philippines embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday.

According to the embassy, Sardana smoothly completed check-in and immigration at Indira Gandhi International Airport using her e-Visa and arrived in Manila later that day.

Present to witness this milestone were Vice Consul Mark Anthony P. Dizon, along with Jose Elpidio B. Espinosa Jr., Rogelio B. Silva Jr., and Rina Isabel P. De Chavez, as stated by the Philippines embassy.

Expressing her satisfaction, Sardana remarked, "Using the new Philippine e-Visa has been smooth," after completing airport formalities.

This marks an important moment in Philippine consular services and in strengthening ties between the Philippines and India, with the beta testing of the e-Visa system and its first successful use by an Indian traveler.

The full implementation of the e-Visa system is anticipated to enhance Indian tourism and business inflow into the Philippines. The Philippine Embassy in Delhi initiated beta testing of the Philippine e-Visa System for Indian nationals, a collaboration between the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The ongoing beta test aims to assess system features, performance, and applicant experience. Observations and findings will be reported to the DFA and DICT for system refinement, leading to eventual full implementation.

The e-Visa beta test grants legitimate 9(a) temporary visitor visas for travel to the Philippines. Currently, applications are processed and evaluated on-site, requiring prior appointments for access to the system at the embassy.

Since April 5, the Embassy's Consular Section has assisted several Indian e-Visa applicants, gathering client feedback and assessing system performance. Overall, Indian applicants have described their application experience positively, according to the embassy.

The current submission of the application is through the Philippines Embassy in New Delhi with all required and supporting documents. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/49L3BVxtKRw