The Philippines will extend the electronic visas granted to visitors who want to remain in the nation, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently said.
In a Palace statement on Sunday, Marcos made the directive after speaking with Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran last week at the Malacañan Palace.
During their meeting, Kumaran asked Marcos to let Indians stay in the Philippines longer with e-visas.
"We will find a way to do it. But we are (extending the e-visa)," Marcos told Kumaran.
"It won't be just India, we are doing it with…several other countries as well to keep it. Again, we will just apply the same principles that we did with others – to India. But that is something that's easy for us. That's going to be a good beginning of a good exchange between our two countries," Marcos added.
E-visas in the Philippines were made possible by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in August of last year. These make it easier for people from other countries to get visas.
The DFA said that the new system would have a "soft launch" at the Philippine Consulate in Shanghai, China with the help of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
According to the DFA, the e-visa system will let people from other countries apply for tourist cards from their computers, laptops, or phones.
DFA Consular Affairs Assistant Secretary Henry Bensurto said that one reason they chose Shanghai for beta testing the program was because there are so many people there who want to get visas.
He also said that the e-visa system will only work for tourists at first, but that all types of visas will be able to use it once the system is stable.
"This is just the beginning of the government's continuous efforts to bring excellent public service," the DFA official explained.
Executive Order 408 says that people from 157 countries can visit the Philippines for 14 to 59 days without a visa.
China is one of more than 30 countries that need a visa before they can visit the Philippines.
