Do I really need to fill in the eTravel form before flying to the Philippines?
Confused about the online arrival registration and whether it costs anything.
2 answers
- Rhea (Manila airport assist staff)📍 LocalJun 28, 2026
Yes, eTravel is mandatory and 100% FREE at etravel.gov.ph. Register within 72 hours BEFORE your flight (the system won't accept it earlier). You get a colour-coded QR: green means you walk straight through, red flags a quick manual health check at quarantine. Ignore any site charging a 'fee' or texting a paid link, those are scams. Screenshot the QR offline; airport wifi is patchy. Takes about 5 minutes.
- TomasJun 28, 2026
Did mine the night before at the hotel and it was painless. They scanned my QR at immigration in Cebu in seconds. One tip: the email confirmation sometimes lands in spam, so save the QR as a photo rather than relying on the email.