Philippines stops issuing overseas visas and suspends all visa exemptions

Today, there are hundreds of cases of COVID-19 infection in the Philippines, and the Philippine government has quickly taken relevant epidemic prevention and control measures. Today, the local government urgently announced that it would stop the issuance of all overseas visas, suspend all visa interviews, and enter a state of emergency epidemic prevention and control.

Philippines stops issuing overseas visas

The latest news on 19th is that Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Rochin said that the Philippines will "stop issuance of all overseas and domestic visas."

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"We will stop issuing visas to all people overseas and domestic. This is an important step forward: foreign tourists of all nationalities are completely banned from entering. For foreign tourists who are leaving this country, everything should be given Help. Detaining them is stupid." Qin Luo made a statement.

Visa valid rights

The notice stated that due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Philippines announced a nationwide The country has entered a state of public health emergency and declared a state of disaster on March 16. Therefore, all overseas agencies of the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs will immediately suspend the issuance of visas, and visas previously issued will also become invalid starting from March 22. Foreign citizens on temporary visas and tourist visas are not allowed to enter the Philippines, however, visas held by staff of foreign governments and international organizations will continue to be valid, as will visas held by foreign spouses and children of Filipino citizens.

< p>Visa-free treatment is suspended

The notice stated that all visa-free treatment will be suspended from March 22, including those holding Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, Macao-Portuguese passport and British National Overseas Passport. Personnel. It does not include spouses and children of Filipino citizens.

According to the notice, the suspension of visa services will not affect foreigners already in the Philippines, nor will it affect those holding visas issued by other government agencies.

Cumulative confirmed cases

The Philippine health department reported on the 18th that there were 6 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the Philippines, with a total of 193 confirmed cases and 14 deaths in the country.

The Philippine health department stated that 7 confirmed patients have been cured.

On the 17th, Philippine President Duterte announced that in view of the seriousness of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, he signed a proclamation on the 16th, announcing that the country would enter a six-month period. The announcement stated that despite the government’s intervention measures, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continues to rise, making it necessary to declare a state of disaster throughout the Philippines.