Section 13(a) Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage
The Philippines 13(a) is the residence visa for the foreign spouse of a Filipino citizen, granted first as a one-year probationary status and only then amended to permanent. The Bureau of Immigration lists Php 8,620.00 for the principal applicant plus US $50 for the ACR I-Card at the probationary stage, and the same Php 8,620.00 plus US $50 on its Permanent Resident Visa page for the amendment to permanent. BI's own 2025 Citizen's Charter budgets 15 days, 1 hour and 40 minutes for the probationary conversion, with Board of Commissioners approval taking a maximum of 14 working days.
This record has not been fully source-checked yet. The headline figures come from secondary sources and some fields are incomplete. Treat it as a starting point and confirm with the embassy before acting.
Requirements at a glance
| Stay per entry | Continuous residence: the probationary grant is a status valid for one (1) year, not a per-entry stamp. |
|---|---|
| Total validity | One (1) year probationary, then permanent once amended. ExpatDen reports that permanent 13(a) holders renew the ACR I-Card only once every five years. |
| Extendable | The probationary 13(a) is not extended — it is amended. You file an Amendment to Permanent Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage while the one-year probationary status is still alive, you must be inside the Philippines when you file, and your passport must show at least twenty (20) days of valid authorized stay when fees are assessed. |
| Entries | Multiple |
| Government fee | ₱8,620 — Principal applicant's visa fee for the probationary 13(a) conversion, plus US $50 for the ACR I-Card. BI's Permanent Resident Visa page lists the same Php 8,620.00 plus US $50 for the later amendment to permanent, so budget both stages. Applying through a Philippine consulate abroad instead carries a separate US $150.00 immigrant visa fee (Philippine Consulate General, Los Angeles). |
| Income required | None |
| Savings required | None |
| Deposit required | None |
| Minimum age | None |
| Health insurance | Not required |
| Processing time | BI's 2025 Citizen's Charter budgets 15 days, 1 hour and 40 minutes end to end for the probationary conversion, the bulk of which is transmittal to Agenda Records Management and Board of Commissioners approval at a maximum of 14 working days. Real elapsed time is longer once hearing scheduling, document authentication and ACR I-Card printing are counted. |
| Apply from | Inside the Philippines at a BI office (the Citizen's Charter states the applicant must be inside the country when filing), or from abroad through a Philippine embassy or consulate, which charges its own immigrant visa fee. |
What most guides get wrong about the 13A visa / Philippines marriage visa
Each of these is a rule that changed, or a detail that is widely repeated incorrectly. Checked 11 September 2026.
The 13A makes you a permanent resident as soon as it's approved.
Approval gets you a probationary status only. BI's own Permanent Resident Visa page defines the applicant for permanent status as "A foreign national who has an existing Probationary Non-Quota Immigrant Visa status that is valid for one (1) year" — so there is a second, separately-paid application a year later, with its own hearing, biometrics and ACR I-Card fee. Budget two rounds of Php 8,620.00 plus US $50, not one.
If you're legally married to a Filipino citizen, you qualify for the 13A.
Eligibility is capped by a reciprocity list of nationalities, and BI's 2025 Citizen's Charter prints it. Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Vietnamese nationals are not on it; mainland Chinese spouses are handled separately under Memorandum Order No. MCL-07-021. Several countries appear on the list for women only — Algeria (Female), Indonesia (Female), Libya (Female), Malaysia (Female), Nigeria (Female), Oman (Female), Saudi Arabia (Female) — so a male national of those countries married to a Filipina is not covered. Malta is footnoted "**Provided that the marriage took place before 24 April 2001 or the couple has been married for at least five years". The usual fallback is the Temporary Resident Visa, but the charter restricts even that to a "Foreign national who is NOT QUALIFIED under Section 13(a) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 and is not an Indian, Egyptian or Bangladeshi national."
You can file the 13A conversion right up to the day your current stay expires, and you can start it from overseas while your paperwork is in order.
Neither is true at the BI counter. The 2025 Citizen's Charter states "IMPORTANT: Applicant should be INSIDE the country at the time of filing of application", and the checklist demands a passport showing "valid authorized stay of at least twenty (20) days at the time of assessment of fees". Arriving with a week left on a tourist extension gets the folder bounced before it is ever assessed. The same 20-day rule appears in the checklist for the amendment to permanent, so it bites twice.
The fee to convert from probationary to permanent 13A is Php 8,620.
Two official BI publications disagree. The Permanent Resident Visa page lists "PRINCIPAL: Php 8,620.00" for the Amendment to Permanent Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage, while the fee table under "AMENDMENT TO SECTION 13(A) NON-QUOTA IMMIGRANT VISA (PERMANENT)" in the BI Citizen's Charter 2025, 1st Edition shows a visa fee of PHP 6,710.00 for principal and dependents alike. Both add US $50 for the ACR I-Card. The website fees also carry the note "*Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice." Get the Order of Payment Slip before budgeting, and expect the district office's assessment to be the operative number.
Once you hold a 13A, the yearly annual report is a quick online form.
Online registration only produces a number you bring with you. The 2025 Citizen's Charter lists the annual report requirements as "1. Original ACR I-Card and/or ACR Paper-based", "2. Original Passport" and "3. Reference number from online registration.", with a step "2. For biometrics capturing." and payment at the cashier window: "Annual Report Fee - PHP 300" plus a Legal Research Fee of PHP 10. Miss the window and the charter warns of an "Admin fine of 200/month but not exceeding of PHP 2,000 per year for failure to pay the annual report for the first 60 days of every calendar year pursuant to RA 562". Secondary guides that call it an online-only formality are describing the registration step, not the transaction.
Where it wins
- No financial deposit, no minimum income and no minimum age are published for the 13(a) — unlike the SRRV, which requires a locked bank deposit
- Leads to open-ended permanent residence and the right to live and work in the Philippines without a separate employer-sponsored 9(g)
- Once permanent, the ACR I-Card is reportedly renewed only every five years rather than annually
- Unmarried children under 21 can be included as dependents in the same application
- BI publishes the fee schedule and a step-by-step Citizen's Charter, so the official cost is checkable rather than quoted by an agent
Where it doesn’t
- Two full rounds of fees, hearings, biometrics and document-gathering — the probationary conversion and then the amendment to permanent — roughly a year apart
- Eligibility turns on your nationality, not just your marriage: only nationals of countries on BI's reciprocity list qualify, and several are listed for female nationals only
- Documents issued abroad must be apostilled or authenticated by a Philippine Foreign Service Post or the DFA, with English translation — a slow and often-underestimated step
- BI still requires you to appear in person for the annual report and biometrics each year; the online step only produces a reference number
- Late annual reports draw an administrative fine of PHP 200 per month up to PHP 2,000 per year
- A BI hearing scrutinises whether the marriage is genuine, and applications are denied over an inability to show you can support your family or any derogatory record
- Fees on BI's website are stamped as updated on 06 March 2014, so district offices can assess amounts that differ from what the page shows
Who cannot use this visa
- Being a national of a country not on BI's 13(a) reciprocity list — Indian, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Vietnamese nationals do not appear on the 2025 Citizen's Charter list
- Being a mainland Chinese national — that route runs separately under Memorandum Order No. MCL-07-021, not the ordinary 13(a)
- Maltese nationals whose marriage took place on or after 24 April 2001 and who have been married less than five years
- Being outside the Philippines at the time of filing the conversion or amendment
- Having less than twenty (20) days of valid authorized stay left when fees are assessed
- A derogatory or criminal record surfacing on the NBI clearance required when filing six months or more after first arrival
Where these figures come from
Every number above is transcribed from one of the sentences below. We publish the sentence rather than only the link, so you can check it in one click — and so a figure nobody transcribed from anywhere cannot reach this page.
“A foreign national on the basis of his valid marriage to a Philippine citizen.”
Backs:
“PRINCIPAL: Php 8,620.00”
Backs: governmentFee.amount
“*Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice.”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“Additional Fee for ACR I-Card”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“A foreign national who has an existing Probationary Non-Quota Immigrant Visa status that is valid for one (1) year”
Backs: stayPerEntry, totalValidity
“Additional Fee for ACR I-Card 1 Year – + US $50”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“15 days, 1 hour and 40 minutes”
Backs: processingTime
“CONVERSION TO SECTION 13(A) NON-QUOTA IMMIGRANT VISA (PROBATIONARY) is covered under CA 613.”
Backs:
“AMENDMENT TO SECTION 13(A) NON-QUOTA IMMIGRANT VISA (PERMANENT) is covered under CA 613.”
Backs:
“IMPORTANT: Applicant should be INSIDE the country at the time of filing of application”
Backs:
“Applicant’s passport including biographical data page, latest entry visa (for visa-required foreign nationals), latest departure and arrival stamps, and valid authorized stay of at least twenty (20) days at the time of assessment of fees (1 original passport for presentation and 1 photocopy each for submission)”
Backs:
“Valid National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance, with the name as shown in the passport, if application is filed six (6) months or more from the date of first arrival in the Philippines (1 original and 2 copies)”
Backs:
“**Provided that the marriage took place before 24 April 2001 or the couple has been married for at least five years”
Backs:
“*Three-year resident permits to Egyptian spouses of female Filipino nationals; five-year resident permits to Egyptian spouses of male Filipino nationals”
Backs:
“Foreign national who is NOT QUALIFIED under Section 13(a) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940 and is not an Indian, Egyptian or Bangladeshi national.”
Backs:
“Annual Report Fee - PHP 300”
Backs:
“Note: Admin fine of 200/month but not exceeding of PHP 2,000 per year for failure to pay the annual report for the first 60 days of every calendar year pursuant to RA 562,”
Backs:
“3. Reference number from online registration.”
Backs:
“Payment of Immigrant Visa Fee of $150.00 cashier's check if in person; if by mail cashier's check or US Postal Money Order”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“The probationary visa is valid for one year. Provided you are still married to your Filipino spouse and have remained law-abiding, you can then convert it to a 13(a) Permanent Resident Visa.”
Backs: totalValidity
“Once you have your 13(a) Permanent Resident Visa, you only renew it once every five years, one of the many perks of a PRV.”
Backs: totalValidity
“Express Lane Fee -PHP 500”
Backs:
Sources for this page
- Bureau of Immigration — Immigrant Visa by Marriage (13A)official
- Bureau of Immigration — Permanent Resident Visa (PRV)official
- BI Citizen's Charter 2025, 1st Edition — Batangas Immigration District Office (PDF)official
- Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles — 13(a) visa pageofficial
- ExpatDen — Marriage (13A) Visa in the Philippines
- LiveInPH — 13A Spouse Visa cost and process (Cebu)
Last checked 11 September 2026. Requirements are applied at the discretion of individual embassies and can change without notice. Confirm before you book anything.