DFA Fully Implements the Philippine E-Visa System in India
MANILA 28 November 2024 – The Department of Foreign Affairs is now fully implementing the Philippine e-Visa system in India.
Following its successful soft launching and beta testing in August 2023, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has rolled out e-Visa operations in the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi and all three Philippine Honorary Consulates in India (Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai) since 28 October 2024. Enhancements to further improve user experience have been integrated into the e-Visa system in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
With the full implementation of the system, nationals from India may apply for e-Visas remotely by visiting the official website evisa.gov.ph and paying e-Visa fees online via direct bank transfer in a secure manner.
As of 31 October 2024, at least 7,259 applicants were issued e-Visas. The applicants were able to navigate the e-Visa system with general ease and reported positive feedback for its convenience, user-friendliness, and reliability.
The first e-Visa holder from India entered the Philippines on 13 April 2024 during the e-Visa beta testing, and passed through immigration counters smoothly. This milestone affirmed the full integration of the e-Visa and the e-Travel registration system in coordination with DICT and the Bureau of Immigration (BI).
Further to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s policy directive in January 2023 on issuing e-Visas to Chinese and Indian nationals, the full implementation of the e-Visa system has been announced as the next deliverable of the Philippines’ digital transformation agenda during the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 22 July 2024. END