Philippines: Indians can enter visa-free at any port of entry — and Indian arrivals are up 32%

Correction — 25 September 2026: visa-free entry for Indians is not limited to Manila and Cebu

We wrote on 1 September that visa-free entry for Indians works only through Manila and Cebu, and that the Philippine Department of Tourism wanted to extend it to Clark, Caticlan, Bohol and Palawan. That was wrong. In the BusinessMirror report we relied on, the Manila–Cebu limit and the push to add Clark, Caticlan, Bohol and Palawan both concern the visa-free arrangement for Chinese nationals. About India, the report says only that visa-free status was extended to Indian tourists.

The rules for Indians are the ones the Department of Foreign Affairs announced in June 2025, as reported by the Philippine News Agency: Indian tourists may enter without a visa for a non-extendible, non-convertible stay of 14 days, with a passport valid for at least six months beyond the stay, a confirmed hotel booking, proof of financial capacity and a return or onward ticket. Indians holding a valid American, Japanese, Australian, Canadian, Schengen, Singapore or UK visa or residence permit may stay up to 30 days. The DFA advisory says these privileges may be used at any Philippine port of entry. We could not open the DFA’s own page (it refused our request), so this rests on the state news agency’s report of the advisory.

So a trip to Boracay or Palawan does not need to route through Manila or Cebu for visa reasons. The arrival figures below are unaffected. The original report of 1 September follows unchanged, including the passages this correction replaces. For planning, see our Philippines pages.

The proposal

Corrected 25 September: this section described the arrangement for Chinese visitors. Indians may enter visa-free at any Philippine port of entry — see the correction above.

The Philippine Department of Tourism is seeking to extend visa-free entry beyond Manila and Cebu to four more gateways: Clark, Caticlan, Bohol and Palawan. This is a departmental push rather than a decision — nothing has changed yet, and no timeline has been published.

The context is a recovering arrivals picture. Total foreign arrivals from January to August 2026 reached 3.7 million, up 3.7 per cent. Chinese arrivals rose 69.15 per cent to 310,088.

Where India sits

Indian travellers are now the tenth-largest source market for the Philippines, with 77,883 arrivals in the January–August period, up 32.2 per cent year on year. That is still below the pre-pandemic peak of 134,963, so the market is recovering rather than breaking new ground — but a third more Indian visitors in a year is a substantial move, and it follows the extension of visa-free entry to Indian tourists.

What travellers need to know

Corrected 25 September: this section described the arrangement for Chinese visitors. Indians may enter visa-free at any Philippine port of entry — see the correction above.

The practical point today is the one that has not changed: visa-free entry for Indians works through Manila and Cebu. If you fly into any other Philippine airport, that facility does not apply, and most Indian itineraries to Boracay or Palawan therefore route through Manila or Cebu and connect onward domestically.

If the expansion happens, the saving is a domestic connection each way on the two most-booked beach itineraries — Caticlan is the airport for Boracay, and Palawan covers El Nido and Coron. We will report it when a decision is announced rather than when it is proposed.

Sources

This report is based on the following published sources. Rules and schedules change — confirm with the issuing authority before you travel.

• DOT seeks wider China visa-free entry as arrivals surge 69% — BusinessMirror, 01 September 2026
• Indian nationals may enter PH visa-free starting June 8 — Philippine News Agency (reporting the Department of Foreign Affairs advisory), 07 June 2025