The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines has issued a warning regarding fraudulent emails and messages targeting visa applicants. These scams often involve individuals posing as U.S. government employees to deceive applicants into sending money.
According to the Embassy, official communication is conducted through email addresses ending in “@state.gov” or “support-philippines@usvisascheduling.com.” They emphasize that they will not contact applicants about specific cases via other email addresses, social media, or messaging platforms such as Facebook, Viber, or WhatsApp.
The Embassy clarified that it never requests visa payments through email, phone calls, social media, or messaging applications. Visa fee payments should be made through the travel.state.gov portal for immigrant visas or ustraveldocs.com for nonimmigrant visas. Payments can be processed online within these portals or with cash at any RCBC branch after account creation.
For immigrant visa medical examinations, fees are payable only at St. Luke’s Medical Center-Extension Clinic (SLEC) during the appointment or online at account.slec.ph/signin. The Embassy warns against giving money to anyone requesting payment of medical exam fees by other means.
Applicants are encouraged to use information from the official website ph.usembassy.gov/visas to protect their information and avoid falling victim to scams. It is important to follow the payment steps outlined on this site exclusively.
The Embassy urges vigilance against visa fraud and provides additional resources on avoiding scams at youtube.com/@USEmbassyPH. Suspicious activity can be reported to FPMManila@state.gov.