A simple google search won't help you with ease for this one!
The Visa process at Mumbai though simple, lack of an official website and clear information will make the process a bit tedious and confusing with all the internet research. Most of the posts you will come across for the Philippines tourist visa are not from Mumbai and will leave you wondering about the frustrating experience fellow travellers have had before.
Our experience was rather on the contrary as went with low expectations, but came out delighted with the ease the process was completed and the money we had saved by applying for the 6 visa applications on our own.
Our experience was rather on the contrary as went with low expectations, but came out delighted with the ease the process was completed and the money we had saved by applying for the 6 visa applications on our own.
The visa application centre for Philippines visa in Mumbai is located at the Consulate-General of the Republic of the Philippines, 1st Floor, Industry House, 159 Churchgate Reclamation Churchgate, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400020. The office is easy to locate and the google map link to the Consulate is accurate.
You can reach them on 022-22024792 for any concerns.
When we approached them with our queries on the above number we were told kindly visit this website link: http://www.royalservices.in/vi/philippines.html (This was surprising as they don’t have an official website for communication and are promoting a travel agency website!)
Here are 5 things to help you make the Philippines visa application process easy and cheap:
1) Confirm if you can avail a Free Visa on Arrival
After researching the literature on the internet, we started believing that since we have had a Schengen visa, Singapore visa etc.in the past, we won't require a paid tourist visa and could avail a free visa on arrival in Philippines. However the catch here is they need a valid and traveled visa, in simple words they need a multiple entry visa of any of these countries- USA, UK, Schengen, Canada, Australia or Singapore wherein you have travelled at-least once using that visa to the particular country and the visa is also valid during your trip to Philippines.
Since our air travel had a transit at Singapore we did think of taking the Singapore tourist visa as it is a multiple entry visa and valid for two years and price wise is cheap (around Rs. 2100) as compared to single entry Philippines visa (Rs. 3160). We could have saved money here and also planned a layover on our next trip via Singapore.
But glad we did not take the Singapore Visa and applied for a visa directly for Philippines. The unused Singapore Visa could have sent us back home or made us rush for stamping the passport for arrival and departure during our short transit time at Singapore Airport, to make it look like the Singapore visa was used once in order to avail the visa on arrival at Philippines.
The airline staff was unwilling to tag the luggage of some of the co passengers all the way to Philippines and was suggesting luggage collection and check in again at Singapore for the onward journey.
The airline staff also informed that some passengers were sent back last week from Philippines owing to the confusion about visa on arrival. Also there are chances that the Singapore Authorities may disallow exit and entry into Singapore for such a short period of time during transit.
Hence I would strongly recommend going for a tourist visa directly with the Consulate of Philippines or consulting with your airlines on visa on arrival to avoid any last minute surprises.
2) Submit application at least 20 working days before
The Mumbai Consulate takes 10-12 working days on an average to process a Visa. They do not issue same day visas for extra charge at the Mumbai Consulate as some websites or posts would suggest and hence it is important you have all your documents in place and apply for the Visa atleast 20 working days before your date of departure.
3) Apply on your own
I would suggest you apply the visa on your own the process is relatively easy and you would save a good amount especially if you are applying for a bigger group. The cost of a single entry 30 day tourist visa if you directly apply will be Rs. 3,160 per person payable via a demand draft, wherein the same with a reputed travel agent like Thomas Cook could go more than Rs. 5,500 per person.
One representative can apply and collect visa for the family or group which is a big advatage.
They have 3 options for tourist visas a single entry 30 day visa and multiple entry visa for 6 months and a year. We had opted for the single entry 30 day visa.
4) Documents and Photos
We followed the guidelines as stated on the website suggested by consulate- http://www.royalservices.in/vi/philippines.html
We arranged the necessary documents as per the list mentioned on the above website and submitted the form and documents along with a cover letter and Demand Draft in the name of the consulate.
We provided separate Demand Drafts with each application however the person at the consulate suggested we could have also submitted one combined Demand Draft for all the family members.
You can use or refer to the following format of cover letter submitted by me - Download Philippines Visa Cover Letter.
5) Be on time
Don’t come all the way to the Consulate simply to be rejected from making an application just because you are late. Though the above website mentions that you will be issued tokens between 9.30 am to 10.00 am they do not mention that the limitation to tokens each day is only 30 and sometimes even less.
There is a huge queue of applicants(mostly travel agents) waiting for you, a guard and a clerk who are giving away the tokens and directing the applicants inside one by one. We went around 9.45 am and were lucky to get the 27th Token number otherwise would have to visit again the other day or day after. I did speak to the people in queue and they suggested it was the 2nd or 3rd time they had come since the tokens were over on their previous visit. I even saw some agents with more than 20 passports for bulk visas in the same queue and thus it gets to the discretion of the guard and the clerk to allow the number of applications from an agent as they are regular and known to them. One more reason why you should apply for Philippines visa on your own as the agents have too many passports and documents and sometimes misplace or bring incomplete applications and are sent back.
Also the attitude of staff towards individual applicants was better compared to most of the travel agents present there.
Incase you wish to take some more prints make sure you grab the token first, there is a small print and xerox shop just 2 mins from that building and they charge Rs. 10 for a print and a rupee for a xerox. So by the time your number comes you can go and grab the prints.
Our token number was called a hour after it was issued at 10 am, the process of submission took 15-20 mins and was smooth. We were asked to call on a particular date (12 working days after the date of application) to confirm about the visa and time to collect the same.
The visa was ready on the suggested date and they asked us to collect the same preferrably from 4 pm to 5 pm in the evening or between 11 am to 12 noon.
Just ensure once you collect the visa the Passport no. and other details are correct and clearly visible on your visa.
Read more about our trip to Philippines.
If you have any queries or suggestions please leave a comment below, you can also email me on vegyatri@gmail.com.
Please follow me on Instagram @vegyatri for more updates.
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