In an advisory from Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente stated that the travel restrictions for arriving foreign nationals has been expanded to include the United Arab Emirates and Hungary.
The expansion, according to Morente, is in compliance with directives from Malacanang to include the two countries as an added measure to address emerging Covid-19 variants.
“The expanded travel restrictions is in effect tomorrow midnight (January 17),” said Morente. “Hence, foreign nationals who are coming from the 35 restricted countries, or have traveled there within the last 14 days prior to arrival in the country shall be excluded,” he added.
On Friday, January 15, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) announced the extension of the travel ban on aliens coming from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Australia, Israel, The Netherlands, The People’s Republic of China, including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Canada, Spain, the United States, Portugal, India, Finland, Norway, Jordan, Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, Jamaica, Luxembourg, and Oman.
“Filipinos who will be arriving from these countries will be allowed to enter, but will be referred to the port’s one stop shop for strict implementation of a 14-day quarantine,” shared Morente. “On the other hand, arriving unaccompanied minors from the 35 countries will not be allowed to board aircrafts. In the unlikely event that they arrive, they shall be turned over to the Overseas Workers Welfare Association for assistance and to ensure that they undergo the required 14-day quarantine,” he stated.
