Traveling in 2022 is still complicated
February 2022 the Philippines opened it's border to the world.
And in this video we are going to share with you our personal experience and tips for Balikbayans and
foreign spouses and for foreign tourists who are eligible to come into the Philippines visa-free.
So stay with us as we share these tips and make your experience less stressful. Let's go
Before we get into details, keep in mind that we
are or we have Balikbayan privilege. What is Balikbayan privilege? As a former Filipino
and with my spouse, or former Filipinos and their spouses and immediate family members
are eligible to stay in the Philippines for up to one year as long as they traveled together
into the country. Now regardless of whether you are coming in as a former Filipino or Balikbayan or as
a foreign tourist, there are some important things you need to know before getting in Philippines.
This trip started at JFK New York City airport. We had a layover at Doha Qatar. So when we checked in
into our flight in New York City at JFK, the most important piece of documentation that was asked
aside from our passport and boarding ticket or plane ticket was the One Health Pass. We'll put
a link in the description below where to fill out the One Health Pass. But please note that you could
only fill it out three days before your arrival, not your departure. So if you're arriving on
say March 10th, March 7th is the earliest you can complete this form. We'll put it in the description.
And we completed ours just hours before we checked in at JFK. Now there's also a requirement to have
travel health insurance before you come to the Philippines. It has to have at least $35,000 worth
of coverage and also covers Covid-19. Now we use SafetyWing. We're gonna put a card up here
and a link in the description below. And it's nice because it's flexible. You can sign up for
it and just have it for a month, for the length of your trip and cancel at will.
We're gonna put a link down here, check it out. So what about the One Health Pass? Again as Greg was
saying, the One Health Pass you can only fill it out within three days prior to your arrival
in the Philippines. If you arrive on March 10, you can start filling out your One Health Pass
digitally on March 7th. And ours we completed it hours before departure on our port
of origin. Now, the most crucial part about the One Health Pass is uploading your RT-PCR test result
and your vaccine certificate or card, a photo of it. Now the Philippines needs a RT-PCR test taken
within 48 hours prior to departure. Now we know that could be very tricky because it's a PCR test.
We actually took three of them. Very uncomfortable for our noses, but we took three of them just to be
sure because you don't want to miss out on that. You don't want a test result not coming in on
time to mess up your arrival in the Philippines. So you need that to upload to the One Health Pass.
And we actually we've been there we're waiting on boarding our flight, but we were still
waiting for our RT-PCR test. But again 48 hours. Once you've completed your One Health Pass,
whether on your laptop or your phone, they're going to e-mail you a QR code to scan. Now if you
completed it on your phone, I highly recommend to screenshot it just so you're not fumbling around
at the airport. It's stressful enough, just have it ready to go in your images section just so they
can scan it. That's very crucial to have that QR code. And of course during check-in at the airline,
please have your RT-PCR test result ready together with your vaccine certificate or card just in case
the airline staff asks will ask for it. And they did definitely ask for us.
Now fast forward to our arrival in Cebu. Once we got off the plane, we went to a station where there
was like a document verification station. There was an officer there. All they asked us for was the
QR code to scan. They didn't ask us for any other documentation because it's already in that QR code.
That makes it pretty easy. After the document verification station, we went into the immigration
line. And once we got to the immigration counter, we gave the officer our two passports and our
marriage certificate and we asked for a Balikbayan visa. And of course everything went smoothly. We
both have Balikbayan privileges which can make us stay up to a year here in the Philippines. If you
are the primary holder of Balikbayan privileges, just bring any documentation that can support
that you were once a Filipino citizen. There was also a sign at the immigration counter
that says travel health insurance. We both as full-time travelers, we both have travel insurance
with us wherever we go, so we didn't have to worry about that. Again make sure that's ready
and we're going to put a link down below right here wherever for what travel insurance we use.
We actually weren't asked for our travel insurance, but please have that ready. Now
check out our friends, Travel Interesante, both are foreign tourists on what their personal
experience and tips coming into Philippines as a foreign tourist or foreign tourists.
These two just got in about the same time as we did and they're tourists. Don't tell anybody. So now
they're gonna tell us their first-hand experience because it's probably different from ours. Probably
a little bit yeah. We came from Singapore so we were in Thailand and then we stayed in Singapore
for a week and then we came here. So we came here with a VTL flight so meaning like you have to be
vaccinated. So um basically they asked for a lot of similar information is like if you had gone
to Thailand or if you had gone to Singapore you need to put in your health information. If you're
vaccinated. You have to be fully vaccinated as a tourist to get into Philippines right now.
And then on top of that, you have to put in your PCR test results. So you have to fill out
all this information within three days of coming to the Philippines and then they give you a QR
code. So when you are checking into your flight, you have to show them the QR code plus the test
result. Then when you get here, you have to show it again at like a health screening part and then
you proceed on to passport check and you as foreigners have to show your insurance which
is like $35,000 US dollars right now while you're here in the Philippines. Yeah and we extended
like literally a day before we came here. So we already had an issue we just extended it. Yeah
you have to show that at passport control along with your outbound flight. So currently Philippines
is not offering any extensions for people coming to visit. You're 30 days and then you have to leave.
So we had to show our outbound flight along with our insurance at passport control.
They literally want to see at the door your ticket that you're leaving from Philippines
plus the insurance. So we had to print out everything. we had to print out the qr code
that's created when we apply for entering to Philippines and then the insurance, the
flight tickets and the hotels even because they collect all that information. And like
we literally entered with a huge folder but it was okay. It was not like these are like things that you have
to be aware of anyways wherever you're going at this time of the uh you know like travel
situation. Like you always need a outbound ticket. And just for the record, you two are Americans yes who
traveled from Thailand. From Singapore, sorry it's a long way yes. Okay, but stayed in Thailand for some
time. Two months. Two months. Singapore one week in Singapore and then Singapore now to Philippines.
So the Philippines is actually going to ask as part of your application where you've been in
the last 30 days. So for us it was just Thailand and Singapore. But if you're coming from the US,
you have to put that information in. You can only come now if you're part of about 150 countries
that have like a visa-free agreement with the Philippines. Otherwise, you'd have to quarantine.
Right. And again you guys are married too. Did they ask for your marriage certificate? No no.
We actually saw the police like while entering separately. They don't take two
people at the same time. Oh you go one by one. So we didn't even like see the same
uh border control. Yeah the security the security guards. We had two folders to show our own stuff separately.
Yeah I mean we realized that was the case in Thailand and Singapore already,
so we were pretty much prepared for like similar situation here.
So yeah it's just like one of those things as long as you prepare ahead of time.
Like even checking into the flight when we took Scoot here to Cebu, a lot of people didn't realize
they had to do the health declaration so they were doing it online at the airport on their
cell phones trying to check in. So honestly it was still easier to enter here than Thailand.
It wasn't all that bad and like the you just take a PCR test and like have other documents if you're
traveling all the time and um especially during the pandemic of course you always have to remember
your health insurance and of course like a lot of countries want to see your outbound tickets so it's
not a surprise there. Um and PCR test is of course like right now the ritual like we are just going
with the punches whatever is required we just prepare and be ready. But again like it's not
hard if you want to come here to Philippines. Like the best time of course it's big enough
Definitely an easier requirement right now than Thailand um so you know one PCR test
before you leave and you're done so that's a positive for sure. Yeah no PCR tests at the airport for tourists.
So to summarize: booked plane ticket, your passport, your RT-PCR test result 48 hours prior
to departure done at port of origin, completed One Health Pass that was completed or done three days
upon arrival at port of destination which is the Philippines, your travel insurance. If you are
traveling with your spouse to have Balikbayan privileges, please don't forget your marriage
certificate or marriage license and that's it. So leave us any questions or comments down below.
We're more than happy to help make things smoother. You know traveling these days as we said is not
easy still. Things are getting better. If we can help you any way we can, just comment down below. Thank
you for watching stay tuned for more adventures from this beautiful country. So glad to be here!
And we hope these tips can make your travel less stressful and as smooth as possible. See you around