Filipinos Who Are Naturalized U.S. Citizens and Non Dual Citizens are Temporarily Not Allowed to Enter the Philippines

San Francisco CA – Generally, Filipinos who still hold Philippine passports may enter the Philippines. Natural born Filipinos who are naturalized U.S. citizens, who are not dual citizens and who holds only U.S. passports are temporarily not allowed entry into the Philippines with the exception of certain individuals. Those exempt from this rule are : Non Filipinos married to Philippine citizens including their dependent children and foreign diplomats. This Philippine government policy is just a temporary ban implemented in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

Passengers Not Subject to the Restrictions and Who Are Arriving in the Philippines Subject to Mandatory Quarantine

All travelers to Manila will undergo the usual thermal scan upon arrival. If a passenger is showing symptoms of the COVID-19, s/he will undergo a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test. Travelers whose test results are positive will be transferred to a designated hospital for further medical management.

Those who do not have symptoms will undergo a mandatory quarantine where a baseline rapid test will be conducted. While waiting for the results, passengers must stay in either a government designated quarantine facility or in a Bureau of Quarantine approved quarantine hotel for 14 days.

After quarantine is completed, individuals may go about their travel plans subject to quarantine protocols of the local government of their destination.

Filipinos who are not OFWs and Non-Filipinos will shoulder their own payment for the accommodation.

Traveling to the United States

Philippine citizens are not banned from entering the United States as long as they have valid U.S. temporary or permanent resident visas. Those who traveled internationally in the past 14 days and return to the United States, they are required to self quarantine, stay home and monitor their health.

Unless the traveler is a U.S. citizen or a permanent lawful resident (green card holder), s/he will be banned from entering the U.S. if s/he traveled from the following countries: China, Hong Kong and Macau, Iran, the UK and Ireland Schengen area which encompasses the following 26 European Countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States, certain family members, and other individuals who meet specified exceptions who have been in one of the countries listed above in the past 14 days will be allowed to enter the United States through on of these airports:

After arriving in the United States from one of these countries, CDC recommends that travelers stay home and monitor their health for 14 days.

(Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq is a partner at the Tancinco Law P.C. Our office is located at One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 818, San Francisco CA 94102, and may be reached at 1-888-930-0808; email at law@tancinco.com, www.facebook.com/tancincolaw or check our website at tancinco.weareph.com/old.)