BI's e-Travel System to roll out on April 15

A faster and more convenient immigration procedure via e-Travel System will be implemented by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) starting April 15.

In a press release, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the e-Travel System is a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers. It aims to establish an integrated border control, health surveillance, and economic data analysis.

“All passengers and crew members arriving into the Philippines are required to register through etravel.gov.ph not earlier than 72 hours from their intended arrival,” BI said.

It added that those who will fail to do so may be assisted by airline staff upon their arrival and before assessment by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).

As a replacement of the paper-based departure cards, only outbound Filipino passengers are required to register in the e-Travel System 72 hours but not less than three hours from their scheduled departure from the Philippines.

Departing Filipino passengers who will fail to register or update their e-Travel record may do this before undergoing immigration inspection or may fill out departure cards which are readily available inside the immigration area.

"The paper-based arrival and departure cards can only be used by passengers who are incapable of e-Travel registration and in the event that the e-Travel site is inaccessible,” said Tansingco.

He then clarified that registering and updating in the e-Travel portal is free of charge and fake sites who charge may be reported to the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).

"Not only does this speed up immigration clearance, this initiative also ensures interoperability among border management agencies, and saves government resources,” he added.

The system is an initiative of a sub-technical working group of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) chaired by the BI. It is a joint project of the agency with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the National Privacy Commission (NPC).

The platform was initially launched in December and initially rolled out at the arrival area and was expanded to cover departing travelers.—Sherylin Untalan/AOL, GMA Integrated News