Foreign Students

Foreign Students’ Admission Requirements

  1. ) In accordance with Article XVIII, sec. 82 of the Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education (q. v. MORPHE, 2008; Sarmiento, 2015), foreign students shall communicate directly with Divine Word School of Theology and comply with the school’s institutional requirements, which shall include the submission of the following documents:

    • a) Five (5) copies of the Student’s Personal History Statement (PHS) duly signed by him/her, both in English and in his or /her national alphabet accompanied by his or her personal seal, if any, and containing, among others, his or her left and right thumbprints and a 2x2 inch photograph on plain white background taken not more than six months prior to submission.
    • b) A notarized affidavit of support including bank statements or notarized notice of grant for institutional scholars to cover expenses.
    • c) c) Scholastic records duly authenticated by the Philippine Foreign Service Post located in the student applicant’s country of origin or legal residence.
    • d) Photocopy of data page of the student’s passport showing date and place of birth, and birth certificate or its equivalent duly authenticated by the Philippine Foreign Service Post.


    Having been satisfied with the student’s compliance with its requirements, DWST shall issue a Notice of Acceptance (NOA) to the student and submit a duplicate copy thereof to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), together with a certified true copy of CHED’s CEA, when necessary, and the above-cited document-requirements. These documents shall be hand-carried to the DFA by the DWST registrar and stamped with the school’s dry seal requesting that a student visa be issued to the person named therein.

    The DFA shall endorse the documents to the Philippine Foreign Service Post located in the student’s country of origin or legal residence for the issuance of the student visa after ascertaining the student’s identity and admissibility under existing DFA regulations. Foreign students whose applications for student visa are approved are required to secure their visa from the Philippine Foreign Service Post in their country of origin or legal residence, regardless of where they are at the time of application.

    The Philippine Foreign Service Post shall notify in writing the student of the receipt of the documents and require him/her to appear in person before a Consular Officer for interview and compliance with consular requirements. In addition to the documents transmitted to the post of the DFA, the following requirements shall be submitted by the student to the Consular Office:

    • Original copy of DWST’s NOA containing a clear impression of the school’s dry seal;
    • b. Police clearance issued by the national police authorities in the student’s country of origin or legal residence, authenticated by the Philippine Foreign Service Post having consular jurisdiction over the place; and
    • c. Medical health certificate issued by an authorized physician, including but not limited to, standard-size chest x-ray, HIV and Hepatitis B clearance. The consular office shall not assume the task of determining the student’s scholastic fitness for the program applied for and shall be furnished by the DFA to the school, the CHED, BI and NBI and the NICA as soon as it receives a report to this effect from the issuing post. Upon arrival in the Philippines, the student, as part of the requirements for processing his or her entry, shall report immediately to the BI Students Desk for registration and to DWST, which issued this NOA, for enrollment. The school shall reassess the student’s competency level and establish his or her scholastic comparative equivalence, when necessary (q. v. Sarmiento, 2015).
  2. Photocopy of the photo, data and stamp of the latest arrival pages of the passport of the student. The passport itself shall be presented to this office for verification.
  3. No foreigner who is admitted into the country as a temporary visitor under tourist visa shall be permitted to enrol in any of the DWST programs (q. v. Memorandum No. 60 s. 1996; DECS Order No. 19, s. 1966; Executive Order No. 104 dated 04 December 1967; Memorandum No. 6s 1963; and Department Order No.1 s.1968).
  4. Article XVIII Section 82 of the MORPHE states, “In addition to the conditions for admission of a foreign student into any degree program provided by law and the policies and rules of the Commission, it must be shown that the foreign student has the means sufficient to support his education or study in the Philippines (q. v. MORPHE 2008).