Foreign seafarers signed on to a vessel arriving at a port of the Republic of the Philippines from any place outside Philippine territory, being employed in such capacity as needed on board that vessel and seeking to enter the Philippines solely for the purpose of fulfilling this duty are eligible to apply for a non-immigrant visa under category 9(C) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended. The foreign seaman must depart with his/her vessel or come aboard another vessel departing a Philippine port for another destination.
Visas issued by the Philippine consular officer may be for an individual crew member or a single crew visa for all foreigners on the crew list of the foreign vessel arriving in the Philippines.
The processing period for the entry visa under this category is five (5) work days following the date of the consulate's acceptance of complete documentary requirements. Applicable fees are published in our Schedule of Fees in the appropriate section of this web site.
INDIVIDUAL SEAMAN'S VISA FOR MARINE VESSEL
Individual seafarers applying for a 9C visa should apply in person at the Consular Section and bring all the necessary documents for evaluation and assessment of his/her application.
Requirements:
- Original passport booklet with validity of at least six (6) months from date of expected entry to the Philippines + photocopy of its data page. The passport booklet must have at least four blank pages for visa and entry/exit stamping.
- Original seaman’s book (or equivalent document as proof of occupation/designation in the vessel) + photocopy of its data page.
- Filled-up non-immigrant visa application form. (F.A. Form No.2, downloadable from this web site), with attached passport-size color photograph in white background. Photograph must be taken in the last six months.
- Original endorsement letter for visa application from shipping company stating designation / position / title of the seafarer, details of the vessel he/she will be joining, including port location and schedule of the vessel’s arrival/departure from the Philippines.
- Personal appearance of foreign seafarer and payment of corresponding fees
CREW LIST VISA FOR MARINE VESSEL
The shipping company or vessel owner can appoint any licensed agent as its local representative in the Republic of Indonesia and provide the agent with written authority as proof of its capacity to transact with the consulate for crew list visas. The list of documentary requirements to be prepared are as follows:
Requirements:
- Letter by vessel owner/shipping company requesting for crew list visa for the foreign crew of their vessel (stating vessel particulars), naming their appointed local agent/representative that will process the transaction, and detailing intended schedule of arrival/departure of their vessel in a port in the Philippines.
- Properly filled-out crew list visa form (F.A. Form No.61 in Excel format, downloadable from this web site).
- Properly filled-out non-immigrant visa application form for each foreign crew member (F.A. Form No.2, downloadable from this web site), with attached passport-size color photograph in white background. Photograph must be taken in the last six months.
- Copy of data page of passport booklet of foreign crew + copy of data page of seaman’s book / equivalent document as proof of foreign crew member's qualifications / designation in the vessel. It would be preferable if both of these photocopies can be submitted to fit in one A4-size paper.
- Personal appearance of shipping agent (presenting valid ID) and payment of corresponding fees
GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR FILING A CREW LIST VISA (FSC NO.01-2015)
- Using Excel and a computer, local shipping agent fills-out details of all foreign crew members of the vessel in F.A. Form No. 61's appropriate sheet. He/she then completes Part-A to Part-E of the "Application for Crew List Visa". Agent sends the Excel file to vessel captain for review.
- Vessel captain reviews crew list details in Excel file. Satisfied with the entries and information therein, captain affixes his/her electronic signature on Part-F of the crew list application form Excel file and emails the file back to the agent.
- Shipping agent sends the Excel file via email to the embassy/consulate and prints 3 sets of the corresponding Excel sheets. He/She then brings all support documents of the foreign crew to the Philippine Embassy/Consulate and affixes his live signature on Part E of the three printed sets of the application form at the Consular Section.
- After initial assessment by consular staff, agent pays the necessary consular fees and waits for official receipt to be issued.
- Embassy/consulate issues official receipt with indicated date of visa release.
- Agent comes back to the embassy/consulate on date and time of visa release to claim the crew list visa (original for vessel, 1 extra set for agent). Third set is retained by embassy/consulate as file copy.