Flying to Manila: Do Russians Need a Visa for the Philippines or Will They Be Let In Without One?

Good news: Russians do not need a visa to travel to Manila and the Philippines if you are staying for up to 30 days. On arrival, you will simply be given a free stamp in your passport, you do not need to pay anything, and you no longer need to fill out paper forms on the plane. The same visa-free regime applies to citizens of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and EU countries.

But to pass passport control at Manila airport without any problems, you need to meet a few simple conditions:

• Passport validity – at least 6 months. Moreover, it is better to count it from the date of the return flight, not from the date of entry, so that the airline and border guards do not have unnecessary questions;
• Return ticket or a ticket to any third country with a departure date no later than 30 days from entry. This requirement is checked selectively, but they may ask about it at check-in, and without a ticket you may well not be allowed on the plane;
• QR code from eTravel – the electronic form must be filled out online approximately 5 days before entry on the website etravel.gov.ph. It has replaced the old paper migration and customs forms. If you do not know how to fill it out, we have detailed instructions – how to fill out eTravel so that it is green.

As for insurance and hotel booking, they are not mandatory for entry. These are requirements that remained in the past from pandemic times. We ourselves have entered the Philippines many times without a booking, and the question of it never came up at the border. Although it is still better to book a hotel in advance – it is both more convenient and often cheaper than looking for accommodation on the spot. We have described in detail how to book hotels abroad with payment from Russia here.

If you plan to stay in Manila longer than 30 days, there are two workable ways to stay legally. The first is to extend your visa-free stay by another 29 days, that is, up to 59 days in total. Moreover, you can do this right at Manila airport immediately upon arrival, which is very convenient. The second is to leave for a day to a neighboring country, return, and get a new free 30-day stamp. The extension is paid and costs from 4060 pesos, and details about the rates and procedure can be found in the section about Philippine currency and money.

A separate important point if you are traveling with children. A child under 15 years old who is traveling without parents (for example, with a grandmother or guardian) needs to obtain a special Waiver of Exclusion Ground (WEG) permit in advance, otherwise they may not be allowed in.

Although insurance is not mandatory, we still recommend taking it out – it does not cost much, and in the Philippines it is better not to take risks with medical care. It is convenient to take out a policy on trusted services that we use ourselves:

If you want to save as much as possible, there is a life hack – free annual worldwide insurance when applying for a bank card. Every year we take out such insurance for ourselves with the T-Bank All Airlines card, and it covers even active recreation, including motorcycle riding:

If you still need a visa (for example, for a long trip or for citizens of Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova), it is issued at the Philippine consulate in Moscow, as well as at consular departments in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok. The visa fee is about 50 dollars depending on the place of issuance.

We have described in detail all entry requirements for the Philippines from personal experience – with extensions, children, return tickets, and embassy addresses. We recommend reading our honest and reliable guide: Philippines visa: do Russians need a visa and how to apply.

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