Additional travel restrictions

29 Nov 2021 / Philippines

In addition to the imposition of travel restrictions from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, the Philippines has also added Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy to its “Red” List.

Travelers from countries newly classified as “Red” must follow the below protocols:

  1. The inbound international travel of all persons, regardless of vaccination status, coming from or who have been to “Red List” countries/jurisdictions/territories within the last fourteen (14) days prior to arrival to any port of the Philippines shall not be allowed. Only Filipinos returning to the country via government-initiated repatriation, non-government-initiated repatriation, and Bayanihan Flights may be allowed entry subject to the prevailing entry, testing, and quarantine protocols for “Red List” countries/jurisdictions/territories.

  2. Passengers already in transit and all those who have been to the countries/territories/jurisdictions above-mentioned within fourteen (14) days immediately preceding arrival to the Philippines, who arrive before 0001H of November 30, 2021, shall not be subject to this restriction from entry, but shall nevertheless be required to undergo facility-based quarantine for fourteen (14) days with testing on the seventh 7th day, with day 1 being the date of arrival, notwithstanding a negative Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) result.

  3. Notwithstanding the foregoing, seafarers who have already arrived prior to 28 November 2021 and are currently undergoing quarantine pursuant to the classifications of the country/port of origin, as the case may be, shall complete their respective testing and quarantine protocols.

  4. Seafarers merely transiting through the aforementioned countries shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to said country if they were not cleared for entry into such country by its immigration authorities.

Any request for medical evacuation must be cleared by all concerned OSS member agencies.

With the heighted border control to prevent the spread of new COVID-19 variant/s in the country, kindly advise your respective stakeholders to coordinate with the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and Bureau of Immigration (BI) prior to the finalization of their crew change plans.

For further details and updates, as well as information about operations in the Philippines, contact GAC Philippines at [email protected]

If quoting any content from Hot Port News, please cite GAC Hot Port News as the source.

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