Manila Travel Forum

Suppose an American wants to visit the Philippines and stay for 2 months. But there's no Philippine consulate or embassy near in the state where he lives. So he's thinking of going to the Philippines on for a 21 day stay and then extend it when he is there. What will he need to do? Will he be required to show a roundtrip ticket at the airport? What are the requirements and procedures?

Check out the Phil. immigration website to know the process of extending your stay: http://www.immigration.gov.ph/

Call up the nearest Embassy of the Philippines and ask them if they take visa requests by mail. I have had to get visas in advance from other countries and sent my passport and money order to cover the cost - use registered mail.

Your travel agent can also do this for you, for a fee of course! May be cheaper than extending your visa after you get to the P.I.

Hal

A very informative site to answer questions similar to yours is

http://www.livinginthephilippines.com/visa.html

Where do you live? I have stayed longer than 21 days and got my visa ahead of time at consulate. It's easy, just download form and go to consulate or mail, as per directions. Doesn't take long. I live in LA so they have a consulate here. Why waste your time there doing something that is pretty organized here?

Thanks so much! You've all been very helpful. There's no Philippine consulate in Washington State though. I'm going to check out those sites, thanks again!

Hello

As an American, you will receive a 21 day visa waiver when you arrive at the airport. Before the 21 days have expired, you will need to arrange an extension. The first extension is for 38 days. This takes you to 59 days, which is the length of the visa you could have arranged in advance. The first extension costs P2,020, plus agents fees, if you don't want to go to the bureau of immigration yourself.

If you would like to read more, I have an article on tourist visas to the Philippines. The article also has links to government websites and other websites that a tourist may need. If you are interested, the article is here:
http://www.bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com/visas.htm

I hope this helps!


Regards: Jim Sibbick
sibbick61@yahoo.com.au

I am a US Citizen and I didn't do anything when I went to the Philippines except bring my passport and my plane ticket, thats it! No problems. Not sure why everyone seems to be saying that you have to extend.