PH Consulate General in Shanghai Issues First e-Visas
Consul Herrera and PCG/PDOT colleagues send off the mother-daughter e-Visa holders at Pudong Airport. (Shanghai PCG photos)
SHANGHAI 05 September – A 38-year-old Chinese mother and her three-year-old daughter made history by becoming the very first foreigners to enter the Philippines using the country’s newly minted e-Visa that was issued on 26 August 2023.
Flying out on a China Eastern Airlines red-eye from Pudong Airport in Shanghai, the mother-daughter duo was sent off by a team from the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai – the first and currently only Philippine foreign service mission issuing e-Visas.
Bidding them farewell were Consul John Francis S. Herrera, Attaché Julie Cris L. Dominguez, Attaché Jennifer M. Ranches, and DOT-Shanghai Administrative Officer Ghienel S. Gustilo.
The two arrived at NAIA Terminal 1 on 02 September 2023, where they cleared immigration smoothly using their e-Visas. Warmly welcoming them were DFA officials led by Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Henry S. Bensurto, Jr., and Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman G. Tansingco.
Another Chinese national, a male passenger also flying out of Shanghai via Cebu Pacific Air, became the Philippines’ third e-Visa arrival, clearing immigration at NAIA Terminal 3 later in the same hour.
Co-developed by DFA and the DICT, the Philippine e-Visa was soft launched by DFA Secretary Enrique A. Manalo on 24 August in Manila. The following day, the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai commenced limited trials of e-Visa processing and opened to the first group of e-Visa applicants. The first three e-Visa arrivals all hailed from this batch.
The e-Visa allows foreign nationals to lodge their visa applications and supporting documents online. Holders will no longer need a visa sticker on their passports, and need only to present a digital (mobile) image or print-out of their e-Visa. The e-Visa is already fully integrated with and verifiable using the Philippines e-Travel registration system.
“The e-Visa stands to be gamechanger in the Philippines’ effort to lure in more Chinese travelers and in the ability of Philippine consular offices in China to ramp up visa issuance”, said Philippine Consul General in Shanghai Josel F. Ignacio. “Our Consulate General in Shanghai is privileged to be part of this historic milestone in the digitization of visa services”.
While currently only available in Shanghai, the e-Visa is set for an eventual full and expanded launch at Philippine missions across China, at a date to be announced in due course by the Department of Foreign Affairs. END
Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai Team sends off third Chinese PH e-Visa holder at Pudong Terminal 2. (Shanghai PCG photo)
For more information, visit http://shanghaipcg.dfa.gov.ph/.