E-Travel Procedures questions

[Gaiden79 28]

Hi all,

 

My Filipino wife and dual citizen 7 year old daughter will be flying from the Philippines to the US for the first time next week and I just wanted some clarification on the E-Travel process. My wife is traveling on an IR-1 visa and my daughter is already a US Citizen with a CRBA.

 

I was told to register my wife within 72 hours of travel on etravel.gov.ph. Here are my questions:

 

1). I already created the etravel account, do I need to wait until 72 hours before to add my wife's info or is that done separately on the website for the actual flight? (See attached screenshot)

 

2). Do I need to include my dual citizen daughter on my wife's account or does she need her own E-Travel account?

 

3). There is a question that asks "what passport holder" you are. Should my daughter select Filipino or Foreign Passport?

 

4). If I make a mistake or miss something filling out the E-Travel is there opportunity to correct it at the airport? 

 

Thank you so much all!

[JeanneAdil 7,048]

No, you don't need a separate "e-travel" (also known as an Electronic Travel Authorization, or ETA) on an IR-1 visa. The IR-1 visa is an immigrant visa that allows you to enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident, and it already grants you the right to enter and travel within the U.S. The "e-travel" requirement generally applies to non-immigrant visa holders and those who are part of the Visa Waiver Program. 

 

 

[Edward and Jaycel 1,824]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

No, you don't need a separate "e-travel" (also known as an Electronic Travel Authorization, or ETA) on an IR-1 visa. The IR-1 visa is an immigrant visa that allows you to enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident, and it already grants you the right to enter and travel within the U.S. The "e-travel" requirement generally applies to non-immigrant visa holders and those who are part of the Visa Waiver Program. 

 

 

 

This is a Philippine Bureau of Immigration requirement for all travelers entering and exiting the Philippines - Not a US Government program

 

You do have to wait until 72 hours prior to your departure to make the registration

I'm not sure if she can go on her mother's or if she needs her own (To be safe I would create one just for her)

For the passport, you should use the US passport as that is what I imagine you booked the ticket under?

I have heard that they will give you an opportunity to fix it but I'm not 100% on this as I've never had to fix mine either entering or leaving the Philippines

[top_secret 2,700]

You can add the photo and all the passport info now, you just can't put in the flight details yet. It says 72 hours but it actually goes by calendar days.  If is to soon, it simply won't allow you to choose the calendar day of the flight.  It will be most convenient to have you daughter added under her mom's account because in the future you could pick both with a single visit to the web site. Dual citizens should list their Filipino Passport.  You can change anything at any time up until you successfully use it.  The online status changes to "CLEARED BY IMMIGRATION" in real time when they get past immigration at the airport.

[Gaiden79 28]

15 hours ago, Edward and Jaycel said:

 

This is a Philippine Bureau of Immigration requirement for all travelers entering and exiting the Philippines - Not a US Government program

 

You do have to wait until 72 hours prior to your departure to make the registration

I'm not sure if she can go on her mother's or if she needs her own (To be safe I would create one just for her)

For the passport, you should use the US passport as that is what I imagine you booked the ticket under?

I have heard that they will give you an opportunity to fix it but I'm not 100% on this as I've never had to fix mine either entering or leaving the Philippines

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate the help.

[Gaiden79 28]

13 hours ago, top_secret said:

You can add the photo and all the passport info now, you just can't put in the flight details yet. It says 72 hours but it actually goes by calendar days.  If is to soon, it simply won't allow you to choose the calendar day of the flight.  It will be most convenient to have you daughter added under her mom's account because in the future you could pick both with a single visit to the web site. Dual citizens should list their Filipino Passport.  You can change anything at any time up until you successfully use it.  The online status changes to "CLEARED BY IMMIGRATION" in real time when they get past immigration at the airport.

Hey thanks Topsecret, very useful help you provided. I put US Passport holder for my daughter's airline ticket, but I imagine that isn't really related to the E-Travel system and putting her as Filipino passport holder there?

[W199 463]

When my Filipino Wife and I recently went back to visit the Philippines I accidently used my Wife's QR code which obviously didn't match my US passport, etc... (note, even with one account, you still need to select each person individually and generate a QR code).  Then my Wife reported the immigration officer had an issue with her QR code (because I had used her code), but let her enter anyways.  We had no issues departing the Philippines.  Therefore, I suspect, its not overly strict.

[top_secret 2,700]

For E-travel the Philippine Passport is the one that is relevant to BI.  A dual citizen would be leaving as a Filipino Citizen. If there is only a US Passport it would seem there is a 7 year overstay that does not apply to Philippine Passport holders.

 

For the airline it is the US Passport that is most relevant since that is what allows them to board a plane to the US.

Edited June 9 by top_secret

[W199 463]

And your daughter will need to show both passports in order to depart the Philippines.

 

By the way, did your Wife get her CFO certificate? Did you register your daughter with the CFO? 

 

[Gaiden79 28]

2 hours ago, W199 said:

When my Filipino Wife and I recently went back to visit the Philippines I accidently used my Wife's QR code which obviously didn't match my US passport, etc... (note, even with one account, you still need to select each person individually and generate a QR code).  Then my Wife reported the immigration officer had an issue with her QR code (because I had used her code), but let her enter anyways.  We had no issues departing the Philippines.  Therefore, I suspect, its not overly strict.

Good to hear they aren't too strict.

[Gaiden79 28]

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

For E-travel the Philippine Passport is the one that is relevant to BI.  A dual citizen would be leaving as a Filipino Citizen. If there is only a US Passport it would seem there is a 7 year overstay that does not apply to Philippine Passport holders.

 

For the airline it is the US Passport that is most relevant since that is what allows them to board a plane to the US.

Oh okay, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. 

 

My wife recently showed me that when she checked her airline tickets on the Philippine Airlines website that it shows we have missing information such as visa and passport information to enter. Is that just optional?

[Gaiden79 28]

18 minutes ago, W199 said:

And your daughter will need to show both passports in order to depart the Philippines.

 

By the way, did your Wife get her CFO certificate? Did you register your daughter with the CFO? 

 

Yeah she has both.

 

My wife had a CFO Certificate from 2018 and she went to get it revalidated and they gave her the sticker, not the digital version since she is not a new registrant they said. They said my daughter has no need for CFO because of her age and being a dual citizen. 

[top_secret 2,700]

24 minutes ago, Gaiden79 said:

My wife recently showed me that when she checked her airline tickets on the Philippine Airlines website that it shows we have missing information such as visa and passport information to enter. Is that just optional?

 

She should be able to prefill most of that under "Manage Booking" on https://www.philippineairlines.com/ .  She would also have another chance when the online check-in window opens at  minus 24 hours from the flight. No matter what she will still need to check-in in person at the airport and they will sort it all there but completing online check-in grants them access to the much shorter online check-in line rather than the regular line.

 

Also be aware of travel tax.  Both must have paid 1620 Pesos.  With Philippine Airlines it might, or might not have, been included in the ticket price depending on how you bought the ticket.  If you aren't sure check the itemized ticket price for ~$29.10 each as travel tax or similar.  If it's not paid in the ticket they have to stop by the TIEZA counter at the airport and pay before they can collect their boarding passes.

[Gaiden79 28]

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

 

She should be able to prefill most of that under "Manage Booking" on https://www.philippineairlines.com/ .  She would also have another chance when the online check-in window opens at  minus 24 hours from the flight. No matter what she will still need to check-in in person at the airport and they will sort it all there but completing online check-in grants them access to the much shorter online check-in line rather than the regular line.

 

Also be aware of travel tax.  Both must have paid 1620 Pesos.  With Philippine Airlines it might, or might not have, been included in the ticket price depending on how you bought the ticket.  If you aren't sure check the itemized ticket price for ~$29.10 each as travel tax or similar.  If it's not paid in the ticket they have to stop by the TIEZA counter at the airport and pay before they can collect their boarding passes.

Ok makes sense.

 

My wife saw that you can pay the travel tax on the Philippine Airlines website so we will try that. Is there no discount for children for the tax? Thanks.

[top_secret 2,700]

22 minutes ago, Gaiden79 said:

Is there no discount for children for the tax?

 

Reduced rate travel tax is pretty much limited to OFW's and their families.  Your wife and daughter would be exempt from travel tax on future trips once they establish residence in the US.  But first trip out they both have to pay.