How to Get Permanent Residency in the Philippines: 13(a), SRRV, and SIRV

To get permanent residency in the Philippines, you apply under one of five pathways set out in Commonwealth Act No. 613: a 13(a) visa if you’re married to a Filipino citizen, a Section 13 quota visa if your country offers reciprocal privileges, a 13(g) visa if you were once a natural-born Filipino, a Special Resident Retiree Visa (SRRV) if you’re 40 or older and can make a qualifying bank deposit, or a Special Investor’s Resident Visa (SIRV) if you invest at least USD 75,000 in a qualifying Philippine corporation. Marriage-based and quota applications go through the Bureau of Immigration; the retiree and investor routes are handled by the Philippine Retirement Authority and the Board of Investments respectively. Each pathway has its own paperwork, its own fees, and ongoing obligations you have to meet once you’re approved.

The Five Pathways at a Glance

13(a) marriage visa: for foreign nationals married to a Philippine citizen.
Section 13 quota visa: for nationals of countries that grant reciprocal immigration rights to Filipinos, capped at 50 visas per nationality per year.
13(g) visa: for former natural-born Filipinos who became citizens of another country and want to return permanently.
SRRV: for foreign nationals aged 40 and above who deposit a qualifying amount with the Philippine Retirement Authority.
SIRV: for foreign nationals who invest at least USD 75,000 in a qualifying Philippine corporation.

The 13(a) Marriage Visa

The 13(a) non-quota immigrant visa is the most common route to permanent residency, and it’s reserved for foreign nationals married to Philippine citizens.¹ The marriage must be legally recognized under Philippine law, and the Bureau of Immigration will look at whether the relationship is genuine. Applicants with criminal records or certain health conditions that would make them inadmissible can be denied.

One detail catches people off guard: the 13(a) is not granted as a permanent visa right away. You receive a one-year probationary status first. After that year, the Bureau re-evaluates your case, and only then can the visa be converted to permanent resident status. If the marriage falls apart during the probationary window, or the Bureau finds anything irregular, the conversion can be denied.

The principal applicant fee listed by the Bureau of Immigration is PHP 8,620, plus USD 50 for the ACR I-Card, with dependents paying separately.¹ Those fee schedules were last officially updated in 2014 and may have been adjusted since, so confirm the current amount when you file.

The Section 13 Quota Visa

If you’re not married to a Filipino citizen, the Section 13 quota visa is the traditional immigrant pathway. It’s limited to nationals of countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the Philippines and grant Filipinos similar immigration privileges under the principle of reciprocity.² The Bureau evaluates whether your home country qualifies on a case-by-case basis. No official published list exists, though U.S. citizens have historically been approved under this route.

Only 50 quota visas are issued per nationality per calendar year, which makes this a competitive option.² Applicants have to show enough financial resources to support themselves without becoming a public charge. No statute sets a fixed dollar amount, but long-standing practice at the Bureau points to roughly USD 50,000 in net worth or liquid assets as the informal threshold. You also need a clean criminal background and must pass the same medical screening required for all immigrant visa categories.

The 13(g) Visa for Former Filipino Citizens

Former natural-born Filipino citizens who acquired foreign citizenship through naturalization can return as permanent residents under the 13(g) special immigrant visa.³ Eligibility is straightforward: you must have been born a Philippine citizen, you must now hold foreign citizenship, and you must intend to reside permanently in the Philippines.

The process mirrors the standard immigrant visa procedure. You file the Consolidated General Application Form, submit your documents for pre-screening, pay the fees, attend a hearing, and then move on to fingerprinting and ACR I-Card issuance once approved.³ This category tends to move more smoothly than the quota visa because it doesn’t involve the 50-per-year cap or a reciprocity analysis.

The Special Resident Retiree Visa

The SRRV is administered by the Philippine Retirement Authority, not the Bureau of Immigration. It’s open to foreign nationals and former Filipino citizens aged 40 and above.⁴ Instead of proving a family connection or winning a quota slot, you qualify by depositing a set amount into a Philippine bank account designated by the PRA. The required deposit depends on your age, whether you receive a pension, and which SRRV category you apply under.

For the SRRV Classic, the deposits are:

Age 50 and above, with pension: USD 15,000
Age 50 and above, no pension: USD 30,000
Age 40 to 49, with pension: USD 25,000
Age 40 to 49, no pension: USD 50,000

Pensioners have to prove a lifetime pension of at least USD 800 per month for single applicants or USD 1,000 per month with dependents.⁴

The SRRV Courtesy category, available to qualifying foreign nationals and former Filipinos, requires substantially lower deposits. Former Filipinos aged 50 and above, for example, need only USD 1,500.⁴

On top of the deposit, the PRA charges a one-time processing fee of USD 1,500 for the principal applicant, plus annual fees between USD 50 and USD 360 depending on the SRRV category.⁴ The SRRV grants indefinite residency, multiple-entry privileges, and exemption from the exit clearance and re-entry permit requirements that apply to holders of other immigrant visas.

The Special Investor’s Resident Visa

The SIRV is for foreign nationals who invest at least USD 75,000 in a qualifying Philippine corporation.⁵ The corporation must be publicly listed, covered by the Investment Priority Plan, or engaged in manufacturing or services. Applicants must be at least 21, in good health, and free of criminal records. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 can be included on the same visa.

Investment funds have to be remitted through an accredited depository bank, either the Land Bank of the Philippines or the Development Bank of the Philippines, and converted into a peso time deposit. The filing fee is USD 500.⁵ The SIRV is processed through the Board of Investments, which means a different application track and different timelines from the Bureau of Immigration visas.

Documents You’ll Need

For any visa category handled by the Bureau of Immigration, the paperwork is broadly similar. The starting point is the Consolidated General Application Form (CGAF), available on the Bureau of Immigration website. Fill it out carefully. Discrepancies between the form and your passport or other records can stall the whole process.

Beyond the CGAF, expect to gather:

NBI Clearance: confirms you have no criminal record in the Philippines. If you’re applying from abroad, a police clearance from your home country is also required.
Medical Certificate: the Bureau of Quarantine conducts a physical examination and laboratory tests, including chest X-rays and blood work, to screen for infectious diseases.
Proof of Financial Capacity: bank statements, pension records, or other documentation showing you can support yourself.
Marriage Certificate (for 13(a) applicants): a certified copy issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Petition Letter: a letter to the Commissioner of Immigration explaining the legal basis for your application and summarizing your supporting documents.

The Philippines is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, so foreign-issued documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates, police clearances, and notarized documents must carry an apostille from the issuing country before they’ll be accepted.⁶ In the United States, apostilles are issued by the Secretary of State in the state where the document was executed. Missing an apostille will bounce your application back before it even reaches a reviewer.

How the Application Moves Through the Bureau

For the 13(a), quota, and 13(g) visas, formal submission happens at the Bureau of Immigration Main Office in Intramuros, Manila, or at designated satellite offices that process immigrant visas. An officer performs an initial review. If your file is complete, you receive an Order of Payment Slip and pay the fees at the authorized cashier.

After payment, you (and your Filipino spouse, if you’re applying under 13(a)) are scheduled for a hearing with an immigration officer. This is essentially an interview to verify what’s in your application and, for marriage-based cases, assess whether the relationship is genuine. Expect detailed questions about your personal history, the relationship timeline, and your plans in the Philippines. After the hearing, your fingerprints and photograph go into the Alien Registration Division’s records.

The case then goes to the Board of Commissioners for a final decision. There’s no published standard processing time, and timelines vary with caseload and how complete your file is. You can track your application through the Bureau of Immigration’s online visa application status page, which publishes agenda lists by date.⁷ If approved, you submit your passport for visa implementation.

After Approval: The Obligations That Keep Your Status

Getting approved is only the first act. Permanent residency in the Philippines comes with recurring paperwork, and skipping any of it can put your status at risk.

The ACR I-Card

Once your immigrant visa is granted, you register for the Alien Certificate of Registration Identity Card. This chip-embedded card is your official ID as a foreign resident and holds your biometric data. You appear in person at the Bureau of Immigration for fingerprinting and a digital photograph. The card fee is USD 50 plus PHP 500 for express processing.⁸ The card has a one-year validity and must be renewed before it expires.⁹

Annual Report

Every registered foreign national has to file an Annual Report with the Bureau of Immigration during the first 60 days of each calendar year, from January 1 through March 1.¹⁰ This is required under the Alien Registration Act of 1950. The fee is PHP 310 (PHP 300 for the report plus PHP 10 for the legal research fee).¹¹

Missing the deadline triggers a Motion for Reconsideration fee of PHP 1,510 on top of a fine of PHP 200 per month of delay, capped at PHP 2,000 per year.¹¹ Chronic non-compliance can put your residency itself at risk.

Re-Entry Permits

Permanent residents traveling outside the Philippines have to secure a re-entry permit from the Bureau of Immigration before departure.¹² Leaving without one, or staying abroad longer than a year on a single-entry re-entry permit, can result in cancellation of your visa. A standard re-entry permit is valid for one year; a multiple re-entry permit covers up to two years. SRRV holders are exempt from this requirement.

How You Can Lose Permanent Residency

Permanent residency isn’t unconditional. The Bureau of Immigration can cancel your visa on several grounds.

For 13(a) holders, the most common trigger is the end of the marriage. If your marriage is annulled, declared void, or a foreign divorce is recognized in the Philippines, the legal basis for the visa disappears. The death of your Filipino spouse also puts your status in jeopardy; the Bureau typically requires the foreign national to convert to a different visa category within six months.

Other grounds apply across all immigrant visa types:

Fraud or misrepresentation, including fake documents or a sham marriage.
Conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude or an aggravated felony.
Becoming a public charge by losing the financial means to support yourself.
Failing to file the annual report, update your address within 10 days of a move, or secure re-entry permits.
Leaving the Philippines without a valid re-entry permit or overstaying the permit’s validity.

If the Bureau initiates cancellation, you receive an Order to Explain and have 15 days to file a verified response. The proceedings are adversarial, and legal representation at that stage is advisable.

What Permanent Residency Does Not Get You

Two limits catch new residents off guard. First, foreign nationals, including permanent residents, generally cannot own land in the Philippines. The Constitution reserves land ownership for Filipino citizens and corporations at least 60% Filipino-owned. You can buy a condominium unit as long as foreign ownership in that project doesn’t exceed 40%. Former natural-born Filipinos who hold foreign passports have a carve-out: they can own residential land up to 1,000 square meters in urban areas or one hectare in rural areas.¹³

Second, once you’re a resident alien, the Bureau of Internal Revenue treats your Philippine-sourced income the same way it treats a citizen’s, with graduated rates that currently run from 0% to 35%. Rules on foreign-sourced income for resident aliens involve nuances that depend on the type of income and any applicable tax treaties, so a Philippine tax professional is worth consulting once your residency is in place.

1
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Immigrant Visa by Marriage (13A)
2
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Quota Visa (13)
3
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Returning Former Natural-Born Filipino Citizen (13G)
4
Philippine Retirement Authority. SRRVisa
5
Philippine Consulate General in New York. Special Investors Resident Visa (SIRV)
6
Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines. Apostille
7
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Visa Application Status
8
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. ACR I-CARD Issuance
9
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Renewal of ACR I-CARD
10
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. 2026 Annual Report Advisory
11
Bureau of Immigration Philippines. Annual Report (AR)
12
U.S. Embassy in the Philippines. Exit Clearances
13
Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles California. Owning Land/Real Estate in the Philippines