PRESS RELEASE
Department of Foreign Affairs
2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                *             Tel. No. 834-4000               *              www.dfa.gov.ph
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. 306; 24 June 2003

DFA TO ADOPT STICKER-TYPE VISA JULY 1

Starting July 1, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will begin to issue sticker-type visas aimed at safeguarding the integrity of the Philippine visas against fraud, tampering, forgery and other forms of irregularities.

Estrella A. Berenguel, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Consular Affairs, made the announcement as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ efforts to enhance the integrity of the Philippine visas issued through its network of Foreign Service Consular establishments worldwide.

Berenguel said the adoption of the Machine Readable Ready Visa (MRRV) is likewise in consonance with international standards and in response to global security realities and priorities without substantially altering applicable laws and regulations in its issuance.

“With the new sticker-type visas, fraud and other irregularities will be a thing of the past due to the incorporation of the latest security features in the new format,” she explained.

The sticker-type visa format is in conformity with the specifications of the International Civil Aviation Organization. “With the visa sticker, the Philippine visa becomes comparable to recent developments in visa and travel document security,” she said.

The MRRV is an interim arrangement prior to the full implementation of the Machine Readable Visa or MRV.

The Office of Consular Affairs, the frontline office of the Department of Foreign Affairs tasked with overseeing the implementation of the MRRV, has embarked on a series of briefings and training of foreign service personnel to enable Posts to begin issuing the Machine Readable Ready Visas on 01 July 2003.