Border control at Philippine airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Arriving Filipino and foreign passengers and crew register on eTravel, the government's single online travel declaration. Registration opens 72 hours (three days) before arrival. Departing Filipino passengers register too. The system is free, and the site warns travellers about other sites that charge a fee ^1,2.

eTravel issues a QR code. Travellers show it to the airline before boarding, on a phone or on paper. A green code means the form is complete. A red code is issued when data is missing or wrong, or when the traveller reports recent illness or exposure within 30 days. Red code holders go through a Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) check before immigration ¹.

Foreign diplomats and their dependents, foreign dignitaries and their delegations, 9(e) visa holders and holders of diplomatic or official passports are exempt from eTravel ¹. After the health check, travellers see a Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer or, for eligible Filipinos, an e-gate ⁷.

Entry permission: visa-free entry, e-Visa and who needs it

Under Executive Order No. 408 and related rules, nationals of 157 countries may enter for 30 days without a visa for tourism or business. They need a passport valid for at least six months beyond the planned departure and a return or onward ticket. Nationals of Brazil and Israel get 59 days under bilateral agreements ³.

Since 8 June 2025, Indian nationals may enter visa-free for up to 14 days for tourism. This stay cannot be extended or converted. Indians who hold a valid visa or residence permit from the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, a Schengen state, Singapore or the United Kingdom may stay up to 30 days. Both routes require hotel bookings, proof of funds, a return ticket and no derogatory record with the BI ⁴. The Philippine embassy page in Kuwait, checked on 19 October 2026, still showed different terms for India: 14 days extendable to 21, with a third-country visa required ³.

The same embassy page lists 7 days, extendable to 21, for mainland Chinese tourists who hold a visa from Australia, Japan, Canada, a Schengen state or the United States ³. Other travellers apply for a visa at an embassy or through the e-Visa portal at evisa.gov.ph. An e-Visa cannot be extended or converted into a long-term visa ⁴.

Biometrics and e-gates

In September 2025 the BI had 21 e-gates at international airports, most of them at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the bureau was buying more than 100 more for all international airports, at a cost of P1.9 billion ⁵.

In November 2025 New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC), the airport's private operator, announced biometric e-gates for NAIA Terminals 1 and 3. GMA News reported that the gates are powered by Amadeus, operated by the BI and funded by NNIC, with the BI providing operational parts. The first phase was due in December 2025 ⁶.

By 13 January 2026 there were 78 e-gates at NAIA Terminals 1 and 3. The BI said only Filipinos could use them at that point, and that foreign nationals and departures would be added later. Users scan a passport, look at a camera for face verification and walk through. The BI said this cuts processing from about 45 seconds to 5 to 15 seconds ⁷.

Passenger data: the APIS rules

Executive Order No. 122 of 2020 set up the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). Its implementing rules, approved by the Secretary of Justice on 25 January 2021, require airlines to send data straight to the BI in the UN/EDIFACT PAXLST format at door close. Changes must be sent at once ⁸.

The data covers name, date of birth, sex, nationality, place of birth and travel document details, plus flight details. The rules list further fields that include country of residence, destination address for some arriving foreigners, visa details, the PNR locator, seat and baggage data ⁸.

The BI may keep the data no longer than 12 months from collection. Longer storage is allowed for a legal claim, a legitimate purpose set by law, or data tied to terrorism or crime. Data must be encrypted in storage and in transit. Access is on a need-to-know basis, with monthly audits ⁸.

Airlines face fines of PHP 20,000 to 50,000 per wrong entry or late filing, plus PHP 50,000 for each person not accounted for ⁸. In March 2025 the BI said it was piloting APIS with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific. It said connectivity tests with INTERPOL's I-24/7 network had worked, and that it was coordinating with the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism ⁹.

Watch lists and checks

The APIS rules let the BI share data with agencies that include the Bureau of Customs, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), the Armed Forces and the Anti-Terrorism Council. Each transfer needs a public-function reason and prior written approval from the Commissioner ⁸.

The BI said APIS links to INTERPOL databases and gives access to global watch lists ⁹. Visa-free entry for Indian nationals depends on having no derogatory record with the BI, and the Kuwait embassy page names NICA and Interpol records as well ^3,4. The BI said in January 2026 that it was stepping up surveillance against human trafficking, fraud and overstaying ⁷.

Your data: the Data Privacy Act and how to ask for records

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act 10173) was approved on 15 August 2012. It created the National Privacy Commission (NPC), which takes complaints, investigates and can award damages ¹⁰.

Section 16 gives people the right to reasonable access to their data, to dispute errors and have them corrected, and to have data blocked, removed or destroyed in some cases. People may file a complaint with the NPC ¹⁰.

Section 4 leaves out information needed to carry out the functions of a public authority, and processing by law enforcement and regulatory agencies within their legal mandates ¹⁰. The APIS rules state that APIS processing must comply with the Data Privacy Act, and that misuse of API data is punished under it ⁸. The eTravel site links to a separate data policy, which this guide did not review ².

Who runs the systems

The BI runs immigration control, APIS and the e-gates. Its APIS rules were approved by the Secretary of Justice ^8,9. The Bureau of Quarantine reviews eTravel health data ¹. The Office for Transportation Security (OTS) handles passenger screening at NAIA ¹¹.

NAIA has been run by New NAIA Infra Corp. since September 2024 ¹³. Its consortium is made up of San Miguel Holdings Corp., RMM Asian Logistics Inc., RLW Aviation Development Inc. and Incheon International Airport Corp. ¹⁴. Reports give different concession lengths: 15 years in one report and 25 years in another ^13,14.

The NAIA e-gates use Amadeus technology, with NNIC funding and BI operation, as reported in November 2025 (status: running from December 2025) ^6,7. For the separate procurement of more than 100 e-gates for other airports, the sources reviewed did not name a supplier ⁵.

Security screening on departure

In August 2024 the OTS had 2,129 staff across 51 airports, with about 1,000 at NAIA. Its administrator said passengers could complain about screeners to OTS supervisors or airport management ¹¹.

In February 2025 the OTS finished a nine-day security assessment of NAIA Terminals 1, 2 and 3 with the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), NNIC, the Manila International Airport Authority and the police aviation security group. It covered access control, baggage handling, surveillance and passenger screening ¹².

In September 2026 the US Trade and Development Agency agreed to fund technical help for NNIC to modernise screening across NAIA terminals, in line with TSA standards for last-point-of-departure airports and ICAO standards. NAIA handled 52 million passengers in 2025, against a design capacity of 35 million ¹³.