MANILA, Philippines — To remind airline passengers to register with their eTravel system, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is considering asking airlines to include the link to their eTravel system in the ticket itinerary that they email to passengers.
During yesterday’s Laging Handa public briefing, host Aljo Bendijo suggested to BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval to have the link of eTravel incorporated in the emails sent by airlines to their passengers to ease the online registration of arriving and departing passengers.
Sandoval said they are continuously coordinating with different stakeholders “and this is one very good suggestion that can be taken up in our future meetings with the airlines.”
A few days ago, the BI had a dialogue with the Airline Operators Council for suggestions and if they experienced any problem on the ground, including the implementation of the eTravel System.
The eTravel is a single data collection platform for arriving and departing passengers that establishes integrated border control, health surveillance and economic data analysis.
“We have been receiving great feedback about the system. It’s actually the same, it is very similar to the systems that are being implemented in many countries worldwide. This is a great convenience to travelers since there is no more hassle of repeatedly writing on sheets of paper (arrival and departure cards),” Sandoval said.
The BI also asked airlines to assist passengers in filling out information in their eTravel system.
On the first day of eTravel system implementation on April 15, over 32,000 arriving foreigners and Filipinos registered while more than 14,000 Filipinos logged in at the site.
The BI warned the public to be wary of scammers who have put up websites that mirror their eTravel website and charge as much as P6,000 per person.
It reminded the public that online registration to eTravel is free of charge.