Philippines visa rules on a British passport

30 days, visa-free

According to UK government travel advice, you can visit the Philippines without a visa for tourism or business for up to 30 days on a full British citizen passport. You will need your eTravel QR code, and most UK visitors are also expected to hold proof of return or onward travel - immigration officials and airlines may ask to see it. That last point matters if you were planning to book a one-way ticket and sort the return out later; it is a reason people get turned away at the gate rather than at the border.

Staying longer than 30 days

You can apply for an extension once you are in the Philippines, through the Bureau of Immigration. The Bureau publishes a visa waiver for non-visa-required tourists admitted for 30 days who want an initial extension of 29 days, with fees listed on its visa waiver page. Note the caveat the Bureau puts on its own figures - they date from 2014 and may change without notice - so treat them as indicative and check on the day. Overstaying without authority is treated seriously: fines, and potentially deportation at your own expense.

If you are married to a Filipino, read this first

Before you plan around 30 days, check the balikbayan privilege. If your husband or wife is a Filipino citizen who has been abroad a year or more, or a former Filipino citizen, and you travel to the Philippines together, you can be admitted visa-free for a year rather than a month. For couples visiting family over a long Christmas or summer, that is the difference between a relaxed trip and a trip to an immigration office.

Children travelling without their parents

The FCDO is specific about this: if your non-Filipino children aged 14 or under are travelling without either parent, you must apply for a Waiver of Exclusion Ground for entry into the Philippines. This comes up more than you would think - grandparents taking the grandchildren over for the summer. Apply through the Bureau of Immigration e-services or via the Philippine Embassy in London, and start early rather than the week before.

Leaving again - the bits nobody mentions

If you end up staying six months or more on a tourist visa, you need an Emigration Clearance Certificate obtained in the 72 hours before you leave. And if you fly out of Cebu Mactan there is a departure tax of PHP 850 payable in local currency or the US dollar equivalent; there is no longer a departure tax at Manila. Worth having the cash on you if you are flying home via Cebu.

Checked on 22 August 2026 - and please check again before you fly

Entry rules are set and enforced by the Philippine authorities and they do change. Everything on this page was checked against the official source on 22 August 2026: UK FCDO travel advice for the Philippines and the Bureau of Immigration visa waiver page. We are a UK travel agency, not an immigration adviser, so treat this as a plain-English starting point rather than legal advice - and if your situation is unusual, check with the Philippine Embassy in London. What we will do is go through your paperwork with you before you pay for anything, so nobody finds out at the check-in desk.

Kami na ang bahala - we check this with you before you book

Most of the trouble we see is not complicated, it is just late: a passport with five months left, an eTravel QR nobody registered, a travel tax that did not need paying. When you book your flights home with us we go through all of it with you first, in Tagalog, Bisaya or English. And the trip itself stays affordable - secure your seats with a deposit from GBP 49 and pay the balance in instalments, hulugan ang natitira. Ask for our free 48-hour hold if you need to check dates with family: we hold the seat and the price and you pay nothing while you decide. Selected fares carry up to 40kg of bagahe, and we offer an NHS discount - say so when you enquire if you work for the NHS.

Frequently asked questions