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[Date]

SEC. ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO
Department of Foreign Affairs
Republic of the Philippines
2330 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, Philippines

SUBJECT: Petition to Declare ‘Authenticated Invitation Letter’ as NOT NECESSARY FOR TRAVEL


Dear Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario:

In recent months, many Filipinos have been mired in confusion in regard to the need to present an ‘authenticated’ invitation letter when traveling abroad. A letter/affidavit of invitation/support authenticated by the Philippine embassy in the country of destination is believed to be required for passengers traveling as tourists and cases have been reported that lack of said document can cause delay, if not, total denial of clearance for departure.

In fact, one airline company advises its passengers about this requirement in their website. To wit:

Philippine immigration requirement

Passengers travelling as tourists
Must have their return flight confirmed (not more than 1 (one) month), and must have an invitation letter/affidavit of support from a sponsor that is dry sealed and duly authenticated by the Philippine Consulate office in a foreign country (original copy). (emphasis added)

This gets confusing as, in a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs on September 30, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Officer-in-charge Ronaldo P. Ledesma noted that the BI:

“does not necessarily require authenticated affidavit of support and/or guarantee. But many Filipino travelers resort to this when they cannot show either their personal capacity or that of their sponsor to shoulder the costs of the trip.” (emphasis added)

Embassies of the Philippines in Thailand and Malaysia have released official statements about the growing concerns that many Filipinos have against the authenticated invitation letter ‘requirement’.

We, as concerned Filipinos working and/or traveling abroad, would like our voices to be heard on this issue. We believe that:

• The ‘authenticated invitation letter’ costs too much for regular working Filipinos like us. In Singapore, this costs S$42.50 excluding transportation costs to go to the Embassy and courier fee as the original document must be sent to the Philippines;

• The process to obtain an authenticated invitation letter takes too much time (usually, we need to take a full day leave) – a time that we would rather use to do our jobs and earn income for our families;

• There is a way for a regular invitation letter to be truthful and credible so there is no need for an authenticated one;

• Lack of uniform implementation of this so-called ‘requirement’ opens doors for irregularity and dishonesty;

• While we support all efforts of our Philippine government to combat human trafficking, requiring an authenticated invitation letter does not necessarily help in solving this problem.


With these points, and to erase any confusion about this issue, we seek your support to: Formally Declare the ‘Authenticated Invitation Letter’ as NOT NECESSARY FOR TRAVEL.

We hope this letter will merit your preferential attention. Thank you.



Sincerely,


CONCERNED FILIPINOS WORKING AND/OR TRAVELING ABROAD

References:

Inquirer Report:
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20110103-312302/Invitation-letter-not-guarantee-of-travel-clearance-to-Malaysia


Airline Company:
http://www.tigerairways.com/sg/en/ph_immigration_req.php


Embassy of the Philippines (Thailand) - statement
http://www.philembassy-bangkok.net/component/content/article/47-advisory/258-concerns-about-the-affidavit-of-supportletter-of-invitation


Embassy of the Philippines (Malaysia) - statement
http://www.gov.ph/2010/12/30/philippine-embassy-in-kuala-lumpur-clarifies-authenticated-affidavit-of-invitationsupport-not-guarantee-of-cleared-departure-for-malaysia/

(Jul0411)