The Philippine Embassy announced the new regulations governing the travel of foreign children to the Philippines who are under 15-years of age and are either unaccompanied by their parent/s or are not coming to visit a parent.

These children, who may be traveling individually or in groups, can enter the Philippines by complying with the following procedures before their scheduled arrival:

1. The minor's guarding or legal representative shall notify the Commissioner of Immigration in writing of an intent to travel to the Philippines at least 72 hours before arrival;

2. The letter of intent should include the following:

a. Request for the minor's waiver of exclusion and the relinquishment of exclusion fees;

b. Copies of the minor's valid passport;

c. Visa (if required);

d. Return ticket; and

e. Letter of invitation from a parent or sponsor in the Philippines.

3. Finding merit in the request, the Commissioner of Immigration shall issue an Order that

a. Waives the minor's exclusion; and

b. May also waive the exclusion fees; otherwise, a waiver fee of Php3,120.00 shall be imposed.

The minor's guarding or legal representative will be provided a copy of this Order.

4. A copy of this Order shall be sent to the Immigration Duty Supervisors (IDS) at the port of entry which shall waive the minor's exclusion and, if allowed, also the waiver fees.

However, in cases where the foreign child/children arrive in the Philippines without notifying the Commissioner of Immigration, they can still enter the Philippines provided that the following steps are taken:

1. The minor's guardian or legal representative presents copies of the minor's passport and attaches the accomplished Waiver of Exclusion (WE) forms obtained from the Immigration Duty Supervisors (IDS);

2. After determining that the accomplished WE forms are in order, the IDS shall note "Approved for Payment" and direct the minor's guardian or legal representative to pay the Php3,120.00 waiver fee for each unaccompanied minor to the authorized cashier.

3. After payment, the minor's guardian or legal representative shall present WE forms official receipt of payment to the IDS, who shall then direct an Immigration Officer to admit the minor, after noting the serial number of the official receipt and the total number of minors covered by the receipt.

4. The Immigration Officer shall detach the copy of the WE forms and retains a copy of the minor's passport, for the Bureau of Immigration's database.

For inquiries on the new regulations, the public may wish to directly contact the Philippine Bureau of Immigration through the following contact numbers +632 527-3276 (Tel/Fax), +632 527-3397 or through e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it