The travel ban on passengers coming from seven Asian and Middle Eastern countries has been extended up to the end of the month, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday, June 15.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said Malacañang extended the travel restriction in efforts to curb the spread of the highly-contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variant that originated from India.

Aside from India, the travel ban also covers travellers from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman, and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"Those with a travel history from these countries within the last 14 days before arrival are also temporarily banned from entering ," said the BI chief.

He clarified that transiting passengers, or those who only stayed at the airports of these countries, are not covered by the ban.

BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said, however, that "Our immigration officers are on stand by and ready to service arriving repatriation flights for our kababayans from these seven countries."

The government is still restricting the entry of tourists.

“Arriving foreign tourists are not yet allowed, unless authorized by the Department of Foreign Affairs through the country’s foreign post," said Capulong.

But Capulong said the aliens are still required to undergo regular immigration inspection like presentation of return tickets and documentary proof of the purpose of their trip.

The clarification was made following several reports of attempted entry of foreign nationals with improper documents.

Capulong warned that improperly documented aliens will be excluded and sent back to their ports of origin.