MUSCAT -- As part of the Philippine government's initiatives of increasing the number of tourists and investors to the Philippines, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) recently launched the Long-Stay Visitor Visa Extension (LSVVE) scheme, the Philippine Embassy in the Sultanate said in a press statement. At present, foreign tourists are only given a maximum stay of two months each time they apply for visa extensions. With the introduction of the LSVVE, foreigners intending to stay longer in the Philippines may now avail of a six-month long stay tourist visa without the need to frequently visit the BI office to process their documents. Under this programme, the maximum stay given to nationals under EO 408 (non-visa required nationals) is 36 months, while visa-required nationals are given 24 months.
BI also announced the introduction of a new visa sticker that will replace the wet stamp used by the Bureau in implementing extensions of stay in the passports of foreign tourists. The new visa sticker has security and tracking features that cannot be copied and thus, will prevent the proliferation of fake visa extension stamps. It is also meant to speed up transaction, allow more efficient tracking of records and faster detection of forged and tampered stamps, according to BI. The initial implementation of the LSVVE shall be limited to the BI Main Office in Intramuros Manila until further notice. The Philippine Department of Tourism targets 6.8 million tourism arrivals for 2014.
© Oman Daily Observer 2013
