(Eagle News) — American citizens with expired and expiring passports are now allowed to leave the country using those documents.
This was after Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente signed a memorandum ordering bureau personnel to allow the departure of American nationals whose passports expired from January 1, 2020 and are expiring up to December 31 of this year.
Morente said, however, that the use of these passports will only be allowed until December 31, 2021.
According to the bureau chief, the memorandum was in response to a letter the bureau received from the US embassy in Manila that detailed the plight of US citizens who were stranded in the Philippines due to the pandemic and who were unable to leave because their passports have expired.
The bureau said it was later found a similar communication had been sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
In the letter, the US embassy said the US State Department recently issued guidance that would allow Americans to return to the US using an expired passport, in limited circumstances, through the end of the year.
The Embassy said that the State Department worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security and different commercial airlines, to implement the measure to assist affected Americans in countries where passport renewal options at the nearest US Embassy or Consulate are limited.
“But this rule applies only to departing passengers. Those who are planning to remain here or convert their visas still need to present a valid passport,” Morente said.
According to the bureau, the letter nonetheless said that passport services at the US Embassy were available, and that US citizens in the Philippines were encouraged to renew their passports prior to leaving whenever feasible.