The Australian embassy in the Philippines said that the news circulating online about ‘no-visa’ required for Filipinos when travelling to Australia is fake.
“The Embassy is aware of a hoax/scam suggesting that visa-free options for Filipino nationals will be available from January 2017,” the embassy said on its Facebook page on Monday, November 7.
“This is a scam, and potential travelers to Australia must have a valid Australian visa. Australia maintains a universal visa regime. This means Filipino passport holders must have a visa, as a result of a visa application, regardless of the length of travel.”
The fake site claimed that Australia entered into a ‘bilateral visa agreement’ with the Philippines. According to the news, both countries want to ‘simplify travel barriers’ and are ‘combating illegal immigration’.
The hoax news included a so-called ‘quote’ from the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop. “We saw the wisdom in relaxing our immigration rules which necessitated Cabinet to approve the road map which was laid in Parliament about 9 months ago” the quote read. The news that the bill has been passed and visa barriers are no more although they do not expect the abuse of this privilege in anyway by any of the party to this agreement.
The same article said Filipino visitors only need to show return ticket and proof of funds amounting to Aus$2,000 (US$1,500) before they are allowed entry into Australia. It said the same privilege will be given to Australian visiting the Philippines.
The Australian embassy then advised travellers to visit their website to know how to apply for a visa.
