Colleague's Husband and Balikbayan, etc.

[Shol]

Hi there still following up on a friend's husband who might come to the Philippines at some point.  I gather currently if on a red list country he won't be able to come at all.   But for the purpose of this message let's assume that he's allowed to come, or it's lifted or whatever.

And I know the balikbayan program is working as per my other thread, but I was wondering since this is a privilege I was wondering what folks are doing since there is no automatic 30 day visa on arrival currently?

Couldn't the customs/immigration guy have a bad day and if he's coming in with his filapina wife and for whatever reason they reject the request for a balikbayan and he would not get a visa upon arrival.

Should he apply for a "backup 9A" visa in his home country and then "hope" that the balikbayan is approved. 

I get that this might not be something anyone knows and will try to make an attempt to reach out to an official source tomorrow but hey some of you fellers might have some thoughts or practical experience here.

Thanks 

[Jollygoodfellow]

It says on the BI facebook page he can come with his wife if not from a red list country. That is official information so dont see any issues. Posted 14 hours ago at the time of my posting

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 minutes ago, Shol said:

Couldn't the customs/immigration guy have a bad day and if he's coming in with his filapina wife and for whatever reason they reject the request for a balikbayan and he would not get a visa upon arrival.

That is a slim possibility, but most immigration guys want to keep their jobs so keep in mind this is a Republic Act and not a gift from the BI.

https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2002/ra_9174_2002.html

[Shol]

Thanks for your input folks.