“Green List” Countries List Revealed
Finally, in a Sept. 11, 2021 Press Release, the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, BI, revealed the nine countries in the “Red List.”
The “Red List” countries include Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, and Switzerland. The travel ban is in effect from 12:00 AM of September 12 until 11:59 PM of September 18, 2021.
UPDATE! 4 COUNTRIES ADDED TO RED LIST
On Friday September 17, 2021, the IATF added four countries to the “Red List.” Travelers from Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, and Slovenia are not allowed travel to the Philippines from Sept. 19 to 30. Returning Filipinos, however may re-enter, subject to quarantine restrictions.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that passengers coming from, or who have been in the said countries within the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Philippines, shall temporarily be barred entry. Morente is following the latest directive from the IATF-MEID, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
In addition, Morente also said that passengers already in transit from the 9 countries who will arrive before the implementation of the travel ban may enter the PH. However, they will be subject to existing policies of the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ).
BI Chief Atty. Carlos Capulong shared that Filipinos arriving from Red List countries under government or non-government repatriation programs or bayanihan flights, may enter the Philippines. Moreover, they shall undergo a strict 14-day facility based quarantine. However, they will be to subject to a Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test. BOQ will monitor the RT-PCR test.
Capulong added that those who had a mere layover at the 9 countries are not covered by the travel ban.
UDPATED Green List countries as of Friday, Sept. 17, include:
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Bhutan
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Cayman Islands
- Chad
- China
- Cook Islands
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
- Gabon
- Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China)
- Hungary
- Kiribati
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Nicaragua, Niue, North Korea
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Niue
- Northern Mariana Islands
- North Korea
- Palau
- Poland
- Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands)
- Saint Helena
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- Samoa
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands,
- Sudan
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Tokelau
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan,
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Yemen
In addition, Capulong clarified that aliens coming from the green list do not automatically qualify for entry to the Philippines.
“The general travel restrictions is still in effect. Only Filipinos, Balikbayans, and foreigners with valid and existing visas are allowed to enter the Philippines,” said Capulong.
“Those holding tourists’ visas remain restricted from entering,” he clarified.
According to the BI advisory, countries not in the red or green list are automatically included in the yellow list.
Those coming from the yellow list are likewise subject to the general travel restrictions. In addition, they will have to undergo quarantine and testing protocols, as implemented by the BOQ.
Lead photo courtesy of JESHOOTS-com @pixabay.com
Graphics courtesy of Philippine Bureau of Immigration