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The Manila skyline and the Ermita district under an overcast sky.
Country guide · Philippines · Living there long-term
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Philippines, at your own pace.

The Philippines is chosen above all by retirees, and its main long-stay route is the Special Resident Retiree's Visa, which is run by the Philippine Retirement Authority rather than the Bureau of Immigration.

Verified against the official pra.gov.ph portal · 2026-10-01· Photo: Kate Cruz / Unsplashpra.gov.ph

When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?

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Pick by how you live

2 routes, grouped by what Philippines's system asks of you day to day — not by which visa is most talked about. Every figure below is what Immimaps has verified against Philippines's official programme rules.

I'm retired, or nearly

A pension or other steady income from outside the country, and no plan to take a local job.

Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV)
$15,000 – $50,000one-time
Refundable
Staying on

What keeping the visa actually asks of you

Settling for good
PR on 1/2 routes · Citizenship on 0/2

Counted from each route's own rules. Some routes lead to permanent residence or citizenship and some don't; the route cards below say which.

Issuing authority
Philippine Retirement Authority, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism; the visa is formally issued through the Bureau of Immigration / Bureau of Immigration, Philippines
Official source
Government + processing fees
$1,860
PR / citizenship pathway
PR on 1/2 routes · Citizenship on 0/2
Who this fits
Retirees who want to live in the Philippines without a fixed end date and are comfortable keeping a deposit in a Philippine bank for as long as they hold the visa.Pensioners and non-pensioners alike, since the deposit is set by age and by whether a pension is drawn rather than by a single income test.Professionals with a Philippine employer ready to sponsor them, who need the right to work full time for that employer.People who expect to want paid work after arriving and need to understand that a retirement visa does not by itself allow it.
2 PROGRAMMES

Pick a route, see the real commitment

Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Philippines's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.

Refundable
Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV)
$15,000 – $50,000one-time

The Philippines' retirement visa for older foreign residents, run by the Philippine Retirement Authority, resting on a time deposit in an accredited bank that stays the retiree's own money, and not a permission to take a job.

Depends on the option chosenRefundable
Service fees on fileUSD 700typical · middle half USD 500–3,139 · 5 firmsmixed scope, visa application only to full package · tax not stated · undated
Check a proposal for this route
Jobs, not capital
Pre-arranged Employee Visa (9G)

The standard long-term work visa for professionals, technical staff and managers hired by a Philippine-registered company, tied to that employer and role, and needing a work permit from the labour department first.

Service fees on fileBenchmark coming soon
Check a proposal for this route
COST, STAGE BY STAGE

What each route costs, stage by stage

Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.

Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV)▾

At application

Decision — reported: 2 months.
  • Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $1,550 – $1,860, paid to the government for the initial application.
  • Locked$15,000 placed as capital, returned when the conditions end.

When the hold ends

  • Locked$15,000 returned when the conditions end.
$1,860 spent for good$15,000 locked (of which returned: $15,000)

4 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $15,000 (shown) / $30,000 / $25,000 / $50,000.

Pre-arranged Employee Visa (9G)▾

At application

Decision — reported: 2 months.
  • Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: ₱21,928, paid to the government for the initial application.
₱21,928 spent for good
The Manila skyline and the Ermita district under an overcast sky.
Ermita and the Manila skylinePhoto: Kate Cruz / Unsplash
HOW THE PROCESS UNFOLDS

The order Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) follows

Processing
Philippine Retirement Authority, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism; the visa is formally issued through the Bureau of Immigration reviews the application and issues a decision.
reported: 2 months
Residency permit issued
Grants permanent status directly.
PR-eligible
The residency permit becomes eligible to convert to permanent status.
reported: 0 months
This shows the order Philippines Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) follows, not a promised timeline. Any duration shown is what the official source reports as typical — not a guarantee for any individual case.
Did the rules change in 2026?

No confirmed rule change has been flagged for Philippines since it was last checked against the official pra.gov.ph portal on 2026-10-01. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.

Check the pra.gov.ph portal directly →
What would a year in Philippines actually cost you?

The cost calculator separates money spent for good from money that's only shown or locked up.

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Been handed a visa package or agent's offer?

Upload it and Immimaps checks it against what Philippines's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.

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Every official figure on this page is checked against Philippines's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.

Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.

Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.

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