With the influx of outgoing and incoming passengers during the Christman season, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) encourages Filipino travelers to register in the one-stop electronic travel declaration system (eTravel) for seamless processing as they go through the country's ports of entry and exit.

In a statement, BI said that arriving and departing passengers should register with eTravel because it is a prerequisite for the conduct of immigration formalities by BI officers manning the bureau’s counters in the international airports and seaports.

It said the registration can be done via the eGov PH App or via the government website https://etravel.gov.ph and doing so will help greatly in strengthening border control services.

Immigration Commission Norman Tansingco said that airline personnel should help in the implementation of the project, and airline companies are responsible in advising their customers that registering in the eTravel system is now mandatory.

"We have sent reminders to airline companies to remind passengers to register on the eTravel platform prior to arrival or departure from the country," Tansingco said.

For travellers without access to smartphones or the internet, the BI will put up eTravel kiosks so they can help them register on the spot.

Under the rules, BI said those who are required to register in the eTravel are arriving Filipino and foreign crew members and passengers, as well as departing Filipino passengers.

Passengers exempted from registering are foreign diplomats and their dependents; foreign dignitaries and members of their delegation; holders of 9(e) diplomatic visas; and holders of diplomatic and official/service passports, it said.

The eTravel is launched several months ago and it is a joint project of the BI, Department of Information and Communications Techonology (DICT), Department of Tourism (DOT), and other government agencies and stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry.

The eTravel replaced the arrival and departure cards that international passengers were required by BI to fill out prior to being cleared by immigration officers, which lessened the paper-based requirements of travelers in the past.