BY JUN RAMIREZ
AT A GLANCE
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will start on Saturday, April 15), the electronic registration of arriving and departing passengers to simplify immigration procedures and clearances.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the bureau has discarded the paper-based registration and adopted e-travel platform to establish an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will start on Saturday, April 15), the electronic registration of arriving and departing passengers to simplify immigration procedures and clearances.
(Bureau of Immigration / file photo)BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the bureau has discarded the paper-based registration and adopted e-travel platform to establish an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.
"The system consolidates operations of all border management agencies to save government resources," the BI chief said.
The system is a joint project of various government offices under the Inter-Agency Task Force which included the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the Department of Tourism, the Bureau of Quarantine, the Bureau of Customs, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Justice, the National Privacy Commission and the BI.
All passengers and crew members arriving into the Philippines are required to register through etravel.gov.ph not earlier than 72 hours from their scheduled arrival.
Those who fail to register will be assisted by airline staff upon their arrival.
Tansingco said outbound Filipino passengers are required to register in the e-travel system 72 hours, but not less than three hours before flying out of the country.
Already registered passengers may update their e-travel status under the Edit Registration tab while crew members may update under the Registered Crew tab.
"The paper-based arrival and departure cards can only be used by passengers who are incapable of e-travel registration, or when the electronic system is inaccessible," Tansingco said.
Tansingco said registration in the e-travel portal is free of charge.
