Ople to ‘invite’ Ricciardone on visa rules

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople is set to invite United States Ambassador Francis Ricciardone next week to discuss the stricter visa rules for tourists and seafarers the US government intends to establish as part of its homeland security measures.

The invitation was issued by Ople in the wake of an urgent request from the Philippine Seafarers Promotion Council (PSPC) that he look into the possible impact these new, more stringent visa rules will have on Filipino sailors.

The PSPC, which is composed of various seafarers’ associations and maritime groups, said the new visa rules include the personal presence of a given vessel’s entire foreign crew, who will be presented by the ship owner or manning agent to US consular officials for interview before they can obtain visas.

This, the PSPC said, goes against the International Maritime Organization (IMO)’s adoption of a universal seafarers’ identification card and the current crew list visa procedure that is used globally.

"Because Filipino seafarers could never know if the vessel they will board will call on US ports, they are in no position to apply for a US visa, even if they are not yet deployed on board. Being the dominant nationality onboard ocean-going vessels, Filipinos will be most affected by this new restriction," PSPC executive director Lito Dailisan said in a letter to Ople.

Ople said he would also like to know the effects of the new visa rules on Filipino tourists bound for the US.

A report from the Philippine Consulate General in New York showed that the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA) had recently warned the US government against further weakening its tourist industry by enforcing a new and more rigorous tracking system for foreign visitors to the US.

The rules, which will take effect in the coming months, will require interviews of tourists who seek visas, as well as computer-readable passports from Europeans and citizens of other countries who do not need visas to travel to the US.

The US government intends to establish this new system as part of its homeland security measures to fight terrorism.