Philippines offers 2-week visa-free stays to lure Chinese tourists

Chinese nationals will be allowed to enter the Philippines without a visa for up to two weeks from Friday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

The visa-waiver programme will cover Chinese nationals entering the Philippines for both tourism and business, but will apply only to those entering via Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Metro Manila and Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Cebu.

“This is in line with the president’s directive to facilitate trade, investments and tourism, as well as strengthen people-to-people exchanges between the Philippines and China,” the department said on Thursday.

The stay will not be extendable nor convertible to any other type of visa. The visa-free policy is set to last one year, pending a review before its expiration in 2027.

Before Thursday’s announcement, Chinese nationals could stay for up to seven days in the Philippines without a visa if they had a return ticket and valid visas to Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan or the Schengen Area.