When I was thinking about traveling to the Philippines by myself, without agencies, the first thing I needed to check was whether I need a visa to the Philippines or not?
For all Ukrainian citizens a visa is required, so you should think about applying all the documents in advance! Of course, this can be done for a couple hundred of US dollars using agencies, but I will tell you how you can apply for a Philippine visa by yourself, without any extra costs.
All you need is to prepare a set of documents and pay the consular fee.
Types of Philippines visa and fee for Ukrainians
There are several types of visas for the Philippines, which may differ in the length of stay in the country and the set of required documents.
- Single (valid for 3 months) – $40;
- Transit (valid for 3 months) – $40;
- Multiple (valid for 6 months) – $80;
- Multiple (valid for 1 year) – $120;
- For pilots and crews of aircraft and ships – $20.
How long does it take to process a visa application for the Philippines?
The timing of a visa may depend on the presence/absence of visa forms at the moment, and on average do not exceed 14 calendar days.
In any case, I would highly recommend thinking about applying for a visa as early as possible! Thus, you will not only save your nerves, but you won’t lose your purchased tickets 🙂
Required Documents to apply for a visa to the Philippines
To apply for a tourist visa, you need the following set of documents:
- Round-trip flight tickets;
- Hotel reservation – in English. It is not necessary to book accommodation for the entire stay, and you just can book for the first 3-4 days, as I did, but at the same time I was asked additional questions about the plans where I was going to stay;
- Photo 3.5×4.5 cm – a standard photo for visas, without corners, on a white background;
- Visa application form – you can get it at the consulate, filled out in English;
- International passport – a valid international passport with a validity period of at least 6 months, from the moment of entry into the country and a couple of blank pages + it is necessarily to have a copy of the first page;
- Copy of TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number);
- Certificate of employment – a certificate indicating your salary for the last 6 months OR a bank statement at the rate of $50 per person per day;
- Visa fee – paid at the consulate, in US dollars, preferably banknotes without any marks or pen marks, otherwise they will be sent to change them.
This list may seem to be “scary”, but in fact, everything is very simple and does not take much time 😉
How to apply for a visa and pick up documents
After everything is ready, the last step remains – to submit all the prepared documents! Your documents must be submitted in person, but you can pick it up in two options, in person or by someone else with additional required documents.
It took me about two hours, due to the fact that I forgot to make a copy of my passport. Submission of documents is carried out in the order of “live line”. The result will be in a form with a date and time, when you find out your result you can pick up your passport.
One more thing. I’ve seen that there are a lot of different kinds of the visa application form around the Internet, and all of them are almost as required, or not at all. Due to the fact that the type of the application form changes periodically, I am enclosing an example of what was relevant at the time when I was applying for the visa.
Please, call the consulate to clarify the most relevant information, just in case. Maybe something can change, because this article was written in January 2020. If you have questions just write in the comments 🙂
If you still don’t have an international passport or it’s expiring here is an article about how to make a it almost without leaving your home! 🙂
Philippines Honorary Consulate General in Kiev, Ukraine
The Honorary Consulate General of the Republic of the Philippines in Ukraine is located
Address: Muzeinyi Ln, 4, Kyiv, 02000
Phone: (+38 044) 279-05-79
Opening hours: Monday-Friday, 9:30-13:00
If you need any help when you already arrived in the Philippines
Ukrainian Honorary Consulate General in Manila, Philippines
Address: 7th Floor, Basic Petroleum Bldg., 104 Carlos Palanca Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City, Manila, Philippines
Phone: (+63) 2 8894 0321
(+63) 2 8817 3329
E-mail: ukr.phconsulate@gmail.com
Opening hours: 09:00-12:00 and 13:30-18:00
