The Italian Embassy in the Philippines has issued an urgent notice informing travellers and visa agents that no appointments will be available at VFS Global centres in Manila, Cebu or Davao from 12 to 18 February 2026. The blackout coincides with a nationwide shutdown of the Visa Information System (VIS-IT) for a major software upgrade that will migrate the 15-year-old platform to a new cloud architecture compatible with the EU Entry/Exit System.
Applicants with slots already booked during the affected period will be automatically re-scheduled for the first available dates after 19 February, with humanitarian and medical cases prioritised. The embassy emphasised that walk-ins, VIP submissions and passport collections will also be suspended, urging travellers to avoid non-essential trips to the visa centre during the outage.
Travellers scrambling for updated appointment slots—or simply looking to steer clear of the congestion once the system comes back online—can turn to VisaHQ for assistance. The company’s Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) monitors consular announcements in real time, pre-checks documentation and secures the earliest openings as soon as they are released, offering a streamlined alternative to repeated website refreshes and last-minute flight changes.
![Italian Embassy in Manila halts all visa appointments 12–18 February]()
For Filipino seafarers and oil-and-gas crew—two mobility segments that frequently require short-notice Schengen visas—the suspension comes at a busy crew-change window following Chinese New Year. Manning agencies have been advised to submit applications no later than 8 February to ensure passports are released before ships leave port.
Global mobility managers moving staff to Italy this quarter should factor in the week-long freeze and anticipate longer appointment lead times in late February as backlogs clear. Employers with urgent start dates may need to explore intra-Schengen routing via neighbouring consulates that remain operational.
The Manila notice mirrors similar alerts issued this week by Italian missions in Washington, Muscat and Santiago, underscoring the worldwide reach of the VIS-IT upgrade.
Applicants with slots already booked during the affected period will be automatically re-scheduled for the first available dates after 19 February, with humanitarian and medical cases prioritised. The embassy emphasised that walk-ins, VIP submissions and passport collections will also be suspended, urging travellers to avoid non-essential trips to the visa centre during the outage.
Travellers scrambling for updated appointment slots—or simply looking to steer clear of the congestion once the system comes back online—can turn to VisaHQ for assistance. The company’s Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) monitors consular announcements in real time, pre-checks documentation and secures the earliest openings as soon as they are released, offering a streamlined alternative to repeated website refreshes and last-minute flight changes.
For Filipino seafarers and oil-and-gas crew—two mobility segments that frequently require short-notice Schengen visas—the suspension comes at a busy crew-change window following Chinese New Year. Manning agencies have been advised to submit applications no later than 8 February to ensure passports are released before ships leave port.
Global mobility managers moving staff to Italy this quarter should factor in the week-long freeze and anticipate longer appointment lead times in late February as backlogs clear. Employers with urgent start dates may need to explore intra-Schengen routing via neighbouring consulates that remain operational.
The Manila notice mirrors similar alerts issued this week by Italian missions in Washington, Muscat and Santiago, underscoring the worldwide reach of the VIS-IT upgrade.
