Residence Visa for the Philippines

If you are legaly married with a Filipino citizen, you may apply for the permanent Resident Visa (13A) as stated of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, Section 13. You must meet the following requirements:

• Notarized letter of application by the Filipino spouse
• Accomplished and Notarized General Application Form
• Copy of the birth certificate of the Filipino spouse, authenticated by the NSO
• Authenticated copy of the Marriage Contract by the NSO or Philippine Embassy abroad (if you got married abroad)
• Immigration Clearance Certificate
• Copy of the foreigners passport showing the date of arrival and Visa (Balik Bayan Stamp)
• certification of a savings bank account with the minimum 10,000 US$ on it to prove, that you can financially support your family
• pay about 20,000,- Pesos in total for fees (10,000 for application and another 10,000 for approval)

After the application is submitted, it may take severall weeks or even month before you will finaly receive your Resident Visa. After the first application, your Resident Visa will be granted for only one year.
After one year you'll have to submit another application but in a more simple way and the Visa then will be good for 10 years, before it needs to be extended again.

You can apply for the Resident Visa (13A) at the Immigration Offices in Manila, Cebu and Davao City. You may also ask for advice and help at any other Immigration Office in smaller cities in the Philippines.

After all, applying for the Resident Visa in the Philippines is a very time consuming process. If you are married to a Filipina anyway, you might also think about staying in the Philippines on the basis of a Balik Bayan Visa and make a short Visa Run out of the Philippines once a year.