Travelers are now required to register at an online platform instead of filling out departure paper cards or forms at the airport.
Called the eTravel System, it is a website that requires all passengers’ passport details and other travel information before arriving or departing to and from the Philippines. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) rolled this out last Saturday, April 15.
The bureau described it as “a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers for purposes of establishing an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.”
This new system covers the following types of individuals:
- Passengers of aircraft and seacraft
- Crew members of aircraft and seacraft
The platform can be accessed here eTravel – Philippine One-Stop Electronic Travel Declaration System
It should be noted that registering for the eTravel System is not an additional airport procedure. It only replaces the manual filling out of paper form departure cards that are presented to the immigration counters.
Here are the steps for arriving passengers:
- Arriving passengers can register within three days at their convenience before their arrival date in the Philippines.
- Registration can still be done during check-in at the airport abroad.
- After registration, the website will generate a QR code.
- This QR code will be presented to the Bureau of Quarantine stations at the airport.
For departing passengers:
- New travelers can also register within three days at their convenience from their departure time from the Philippines.
- They can still register at the airport before undergoing the immigration inspection.
- After registration, the website will generate a QR code.
- This QR code will be presented to the immigration officer at the counter.
- Here are other important details about the platform that the bureau uploaded on its social media pages.
More than 32,000 arrivals and more than 14,000 departures registered their travel information on the website, according to Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
In a statement, technical working group Head Dennis Javier considered these numbers as proof of the success of this digital initiative.
“So far, the implementation remains very smooth, with no noted glitches or issues,” Javier said.
He also emphasized that the eTravel System is just one of the many efforts to modernize the immigration process.
“Modernization of the Bureau is really one of the priorities of the BI. This is but the first step in many technological improvements in immigration,” Javier said.
