Immigration e-gates

An e-gate reads your passport, checks your face against it, and opens if everything lines up. There is no officer stamping your passport and no booth queue. When you qualify, it takes seconds. Whether you qualify depends on three things: your passport, your direction of travel, and whether you have been pre-screened.

Jump to

• What everyone needs: the requirements that apply before you can use any e-gate.
• Arrivals: arriving Philippine passport holders can use the e-gates. Fast and straightforward.
• Departures: OFWs with a valid OEC, and pre-screened Filipino passport holders.
• Pre-screening and APIS: how the system decides who gets a green light.
• If the gate turns red: what it means and what to do.
• First-time travellers: why you should expect the manned counter.
• How to use the gate: the step-by-step at the machine.

What everyone needs

Before direction or pre-screening even comes into play, two things are true for everyone:

• You must hold a Philippine passport. For now the e-gates are for Filipino passport holders. Foreign nationals are expected to be added in a later phase, but until then they use the manned counters.
• You must have already completed your eTravel declaration. This applies to both arrivals and departures. The e-gate relies on that record, so if you have not filled it out, you cannot use the gates. Do it before you get to the airport.

One thing you don't need: a boarding pass to scan. The current gates work from your passport and your face, so there is no barcode step like the older machines had.

Arrivals: coming into the Philippines

If you hold a Philippine passport and are arriving on an international flight, you can use the e-gates. This is the simplest case: any arriving Filipino passport holder qualifies, as long as eTravel is done.

It is genuinely fast. You scan your passport, look at the camera, and the gate opens. There is no boarding pass to scan and no interview. Take off anything covering your face (hat, mask, sunglasses) so the camera can match you to your passport photo.

Keep small children and anyone who needs help with you for the manned lane if that is easier; the e-gate handles one passenger at a time.

Departures: leaving the Philippines

Departures are more selective than arrivals, because immigration is screening who is allowed to leave. For departures, the e-gates are generally available to two groups:

• OFWs with a valid OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate) that is registered in their eTravel. If your OEC is linked to your eTravel record, the gate can recognize you.
• Pre-screened Filipino passport holders. Other Filipino travellers can use the e-gates when they have been pre-screened for the flight. If the gate turns red, don't worry. Just move to a regular manned immigration counter and clear there as usual.

If you are not an OFW and you have not been pre-screened, the e-gate simply won't clear you, and that is fine. The manned counter is always there as the fallback.

What is pre-screening?

Pre-screening is built on the Bureau of Immigration's Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). Airlines that are linked to APIS send passenger and flight details to immigration ahead of the flight, so officers can review travellers before they ever reach the gate. That advance check is what lets the e-gate clear an eligible passenger automatically, because the work has effectively already been done in the background.

Because pre-screening depends on the airline sharing data, it only works on carriers that are connected to the system. The Bureau of Immigration has been bringing airlines onto APIS in batches (dozens are already linked), and all international carriers operating at NAIA are required to be transmitting data by June 30, 2026. If your airline is not yet linked, you will use the manned counter regardless of anything else.

If the gate turns red

A red light at the e-gate is not a problem with you or your documents. It usually just means you were not pre-screened for the e-gate on this trip. For example, your airline isn't on APIS yet, or you don't fall into one of the eligible groups for departure.

When this happens, simply move to a regular manned immigration counter and clear there as normal. You are not being flagged or refused; the manned counter is the standard route and the officers there handle exactly these cases all day.

First-time travellers

If this is your first international trip on your passport, expect to use the manned counters rather than the e-gates. First-time travellers are not pre-screened for the e-gates, so plan for a regular immigration interview and allow a little extra time. This is normal and expected, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong with your trip.

How to use the gate

Once you know you qualify, the gate itself is quick. The flow is roughly:

• Make sure your eTravel is already done.
• Approach an open e-gate and place your passport on the scanner when prompted.
• Look at the camera with your face uncovered. Remove hats, masks, and sunglasses so it can match you to your passport photo.
• Wait for the gate to open, then walk through. There is no boarding pass step.
• If the gate doesn't open or turns red, go to a manned counter instead.

Tips

Complete your eTravel before heading to the airport, and keep your QR code handy in case it is checked elsewhere.

Have your passport ready and your face uncovered when you reach the gate.

Don't treat a red gate as a setback. It is a normal outcome, not a sign that anything is wrong. Just step over to a manned counter.

Before your flight, it is also worth sorting your travel tax and planning how you'll get to NAIA so you arrive with time to spare.