Philippines to offer medical tourist visas

THE Bureau of Immigration on Tuesday said that it would introduce special medical visas for foreigners, as the Philippines seeks to grab a bigger share of Asia's booming health tourism industry. According to Immigration Officer in Charge Ronaldo Ledesma, the new visas will help the Philippines become competitive in the lucrative medical tourism market in the Asia-Pacific currently dominated by Taiwan and Singapore.

"Our country has a rich pool of doctors and nurses who can provide quality health care not only to our citizens but also to our foreign visitors," he said.Ledesma added that the Filipinos' popular trait of hospitality and their ability to extend care and compassion to the sick are big factors in the development of the country's medical tourism industry.

The government also is counting the country's English-speaking and internationally trained doctors among its advantages, as well as medical and surgical costs that are up to 50-percent lower than those in the United States or Europe."We have plenty of world-class surgeons and modern medical technology and facilities in our hospitals that we can be proud of," Ledesma said.

The Department of Health launched a program in 2004 to promote medical tourism by encouraging state hospitals and specialized private institutions to compete with medical organizations elsewhere in Asia."We are optimistic that once we begin offering these visas, we will have more visitors from Europe and the United States," the Immigration chief said.

Currently, the Immigration Act only provides for the extension of tourist or temporary visitor's visas to foreigners who come to the Philippines for business or pleasure.The foreigners are initially granted a stay of either 21 days or two months, which may be extended every month up to a maximum of two years.

The Immigration chief stressed that the medical visa proposal will also bolster government revenues from increased collection of visa fees and charges.Ledesma said that proposed guidelines for the issuance of the medical visas are being prepared by the bureau's legal division for approval by the Department of Justice and the Office of the President.

Under the proposed guidelines, the visas would allow the holders to stay in the Philippines for six months without need to secure an Alien Certificate of Registration or identity card and be exempted from paying the annual report fee levied on foreign residents.But the visa holders are required to post a bond based on the amount of their airline tickets to ensure that they will not violate the conditions of their stay in the country.

Source = tradingmarkets