The Philippine Department of Tourism (DoT) has introduced the electronic arrival card on October 21, which provides a more convenient and stress-free experience for Filipino and foreign travellers arriving in the Philippines.
The e-Arrival Card replaces the existing One Health Pass (OHP) entry requirement for travellers as a bid to ease the country’s remaining stringent entry protocols so as to attract more travellers and boost the country’s tourism recovery.
The decision to remove the OHP was a result of numerous complaints from inbound travellers, as well as a means of benchmarking more convenient arrival protocols in South-east Asia such as Singapore.
Prior to the adoption of the new e-Arrival Card, travellers were required to register for the OHP a few days before their travel, and accomplish the electronic Health Declaration Checklist on the day of departure.
Compared to the previous OHP system, the e-Arrival Card also removes unnecessary information fields, making it easier and faster to complete the traveller registration process. It will also eventually eliminate the need for physical arrival cards.
Upon providing their travel details, personal information, health declaration and vaccination details on the e-Arrival Card, travellers will be issued with a unique QR code which they must then capture a screenshot of the QR code on their mobile device and present it to the Bureau of Quarantine (BoQ) officers at their destination airport in the Philippines.
In the event that a traveller is unable to complete their e-Arrival Card, the BoQ has staff stationed at the airport to assist in the registration.
