Pre-arranged Employment Visa under Section 9(g) of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, as amended
The 9(G) is the Philippines' employer-sponsored work visa, granted to foreign nationals "proceeding to Philippines to engage in any lawful occupation, whether for wages or salary or other forms of compensation." It runs for a maximum of three years or co-terminus with the DOLE Alien Employment Permit, whichever is shorter, and the AEP itself defaults to one year, so most people hold a one-year visa in practice. The Bureau of Immigration's published conversion fee for a principal at a non-Top 1,000 corporation is Php 10,130.00 for one year, Php 17,170.00 for two and Php 24,210.00 for three, plus US$50 to US$150 for the ACR I-Card, on top of the separate DOLE AEP fee the employer pays first.
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 | |
|---|---|
| Total validity | Maximum three years, or co-terminus with the AEP issued by DOLE, whichever is shorter. Because the AEP is issued "for a period of one (1) year, unless the employment contract, or other modes of engagement provides otherwise, which in no case shall exceed three (3) years," a one-year visa is the common outcome. BI sells the conversion in one-, two- and three-year bands. |
| Extendable | Yes. BI runs a separate "Extension of Pre-arranged Employee (Commercial)" transaction with its own (lower) published fees — Php 7,060.00 for one year, Php 13,100.00 for two, Php 19,140.00 for three for a principal at a non-Top 1,000 corporation. Each extension has to be backed by a renewed AEP, because the visa can never outrun the permit. The AEP renewal must be filed no earlier than 60 days before it expires. |
| Entries | Single |
| Government fee | ₱10,130 — BI published fee to convert to a 9(G) commercial visa: principal applicant, one-year validity, employer not in the Top 1,000 corporations (Php 17,170.00 for two years, Php 24,210.00 for three). The ACR I-Card is charged on top at US$50 for one year, US$100 for two, US$150 for three. BI's table is footnoted "Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice," and the DOLE AEP fee is separate and paid first. |
| Income required | None |
| Savings required | None |
| Deposit required | None |
| Minimum age | None |
| Health insurance | Not required |
| Processing time | Budget three to five months end to end. The DOLE Regional Office acts on a new or renewal AEP within fifteen (15) working days from payment of the fee, but that clock only starts after the vacancy has been published for 15 calendar days and the application accepted; the BI stage afterwards adds a pre-screening, a hearing, biometrics and visa implementation, each with its own queue. |
| Apply from | Inside the Philippines (Bureau of Immigration main office in Intramuros, Manila, or an authorized BI district office), usually as a conversion from a 9(a) temporary visitor stamp; the employer's AEP is filed first at the DOLE Regional Office with jurisdiction over the jobsite. A 9(G) can also be issued at a Philippine embassy or consulate abroad, but only after written authority is received from DFA Manila. |
What most guides get wrong about the 9G work visa
Each of these is a rule that changed, or a detail that is widely repeated incorrectly. Checked 11 September 2026.
The AEP is issued within 24 hours once you've paid and published.
That was the rule under D.O. 146-15, Sec. 7, and it is still the most-repeated line in guides written before 2025. Under the 2025 rules the DOLE Regional Office acts on a new or renewal AEP application within fifteen (15) working days from payment of the required fee. Plan an AEP-to-visa timeline in months, not days.
The AEP application fee is a settled number you can budget from any guide.
It is not, and this is the single figure most likely to be wrong on any page you read. The last fee schedule published in a text anyone can verify is D.O. 146-15, Sec. 5: P9,000.00 for a one-year AEP, an extra P4,000.00 per additional year, P4,000.00 per year on renewal. Secondary write-ups about the 2025 rules variously state P6,000 + P5,000, P9,000 + P4,000, and P10,000 + P5,000. DOLE's own PDF of D.O. 248, s. 2025 blocks automated retrieval, so we could not confirm which, if any, of those figures the new order carries. Ask the DOLE Regional Office for the current order of payment before budgeting, and treat the P10,000 figure with particular suspicion — that is the per-year fine for working without a valid AEP under Sec. 15, which several guides appear to have mistaken for a fee.
The BI fee page tells you what the 9G will cost.
The Bureau of Immigration's own 9G page prints Php 10,130.00 for a one-year conversion and then footnotes the whole table with "*Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice." The older BI circular that governs the same transaction, MC AFF-05-001 Sec. 7, sets the conversion fee at P2,500 per authorized year for a principal — a number nobody actually pays. Two official BI documents therefore disagree, and neither reflects the express lane fees, legal research fee and ACR I-Card charges a cashier will add. The published Php 10,130.00 is a floor, not a total.
A three-year 9G means three years of settled status.
The visa is capped by the permit. BOI MC AFF-05-001 Sec. 6: valid for three (3) years "or for a period co-terminus with the AEP issued by the DOLE, whichever is shorter." And the AEP under D.O. 146-15 Sec. 9 defaults to one (1) year unless the contract says otherwise. If your employer files a one-year AEP, you have a one-year visa no matter what you paid BI, and you repeat the newspaper publication, the DOLE filing and the BI hearing every year.
Once the AEP is in hand you can start work, and you can move to a better offer later on the same visa.
Two separate traps. First, the AEP is not work authorization: D.O. 146-15's Policy Declaration says outright that it "is not an exclusive authority for a foreign national to work in the Philippines" — you also need the BI's Provisional Permit to Work while the 9G is pending, which BI grants on proof of AEP application and which is valid for a maximum of one (1) year. Second, the AEP is tied to one position at one company: "A change of position or employer shall require an application for new AEP," and only one AEP exists per person at a time. Switching jobs restarts the entire cycle, publication included, and the old employer can cancel the AEP on termination, which collapses the visa with it.
The employer just files the AEP paperwork whenever it's ready.
Since the 2025 rules there is a window that closes. The vacancy ad has to run in a newspaper, on PhilJobNet and at the PESO/JPO; the AEP application can be filed 15 calendar days after publication, and the published ads are only valid for 45 days, so the filing has to land inside that period or the publication is redone. Covered employers must also submit an Understudy Training Program or Skills Development Program plan with the application or within sixty (60) days of the start of employment, then file progress reports semi-annually on a one-year AEP.
Where it wins
- Full employment rights with a named Philippine employer, plus dependent visas for a spouse and children — BI publishes dependent fees alongside the principal's (Php 8,120.00 for a spouse on a one-year conversion).
- Renewable indefinitely while the job lasts, and years on a 9(G) count toward later permanent options such as a 13(a) by marriage or the SIRV/SRRV routes.
- The Provisional Permit to Work lets you legally start work while the 9(G) is still pending — BI grants it on proof of an AEP application rather than a finished AEP, and it runs up to one year.
- Can be converted from inside the country: most applicants enter on a 9(a) tourist stamp and convert, rather than waiting abroad for an embassy to receive DFA authority.
Where it doesn’t
- You do not control this visa — your employer does. The AEP is issued for one position at one company, only one AEP exists per person at a time, and a change of position or employer requires a brand-new AEP with fresh publication. Termination lets the employer move to cancel the AEP, and the visa falls with it.
- Two agencies, two queues, two sets of fees. DOLE issues the AEP; BI issues the visa and the ACR I-Card; neither will move until the other has. Nothing about the process is a single application.
- The published fees are unreliable. BI's fee table is footnoted as current to 06 March 2014, and the AEP fee under the 2025 rules cannot be verified against a retrievable official text. Get an order of payment before you budget.
- Working before the paperwork lands is expensive: DOLE fines the foreign national P10,000.00 for every year or fraction thereof worked without a valid AEP, and fines the employer the same amount.
- Since 2025 the employer carries real compliance weight — a Labor Market Test across newspaper, PhilJobNet and the PESO, an Economic Needs Test, and an Understudy Training Program with semi-annual progress reports. Smaller employers sometimes abandon the sponsorship once they see it.
- A 9(G) is not a path to permanent residence on its own. It expires with the job.
Who cannot use this visa
- No Philippine employer willing to petition you — there is no self-sponsored or freelance version of this visa.
- Positions where a competent, able and willing Filipino is available; DOLE can deny the AEP on exactly that ground after the publication period.
- Roles in nationalized or partially nationalized industries without an Authority to Employ Alien from the DOJ, and regulated professions without a Special Temporary Permit from the PRC.
- Conviction of a criminal offence, fugitive status, grave misconduct in dealing with workers, or falsified documents — these carry a ten-year bar on reapplying for an AEP.
- Contracts shorter than six months, which belong on a Special Work Permit instead; SWP runs three months, extendable once by three, and is non-extendible beyond six.
Recent rule changes
- That was the rule under D.O.
- Since the 2025 rules there is a window that closes.
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.
“An approved application for a 9(g) working visa shall be valid for a period of three (3) years or for a period co-terminus with the AEP issued by the DOLE, whichever is shorter.”
Backs: totalValidity
“A working visa application under Section 9(g) of the Philippine Immigration Act shall be accepted upon submission of the minimum requirements, as follows: a) duly accomplished and notarized general application form showing that applicant has no derogatory record with the Bureau; b) petition or application letter signed by the authorized representative of the petitioning company or entity; c) a valid contract of employment and; d) AEP together with the documents submitted to DOLE for the issuance thereof.”
Backs:
“VALIDITY PRINCIPAL DEP-SPOUSE DEP-B16 DEP-B14 1 Year Php 10,130.00 Php 8,120.00 Php 7,870.00 Php 7,370.00 2 Years Php 17,170.00 Php 13,960.00 Php 13,710.00 Php 13,210.00 3 Years Php 24,210.00 Php 19,800.00 Php 19,550.00 Php 19,050.00”
Backs: governmentFee.amount, governmentFee.qualifier
“*Fees are updated as of 06 March 2014 and may change without prior notice.”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“Additional Fee for ACR I-Card 1 Year – + US $50 2 Years – + US $100 3 Years – + US $150”
Backs: governmentFee.qualifier
“Within fifteen (15) working days from payment of the required fee, the DOLE Regional Office shall act on the renewal or new AEP application.”
Backs: processingTime
“The AEP shall be valid for the position and the company for which it was issued for a period of one (1) year, unless the employment contract, or other modes of engagement provides otherwise, which in no case shall exceed three (3) years.”
Backs: totalValidity
“Upon filing of application, the applicant shall pay a fee of Nine Thousand Pesos (P9,000.00) for an AEP with a validity of one year. In case the period of employment is more than one year, an additional Four Thousand Pesos (P4,000.00) shall be charged for every additional year or fraction thereof. In case of renewal, the applicant shall pay a permit fee of Four Thousand Pesos (P4,000.00) for each year of validity or fraction thereof.”
Backs:
“Applications for new AEP shall be processed and an AEP shall be issued within twenty-four (24) hours after publication and payment of required fees and fines, if there is any.”
Backs:
“The Alien Employment Permit (AEP) is not an exclusive authority for a foreign national to work in the Philippines. It is just one of the requirements in the issuance of a work visa (9g) to legally engage in gainful employment in the country.”
Backs:
“At any given time only one AEP shall be issued to a foreign national. A foreign national may be issued one (1) AEP only at any given time.”
Backs:
“Additional position of the foreign national in the same company or subsequent assignment in related companies during the validity or renewal of the AEP will be subject for publication requirement. A change of position or employer shall require an application for new AEP.”
Backs:
“The Regional Director shall impose a fine of Ten Thousand Pesos (P10, 000.00) for every year or a fraction thereof to foreign nationals found working without a valid AEP. Employers found employing foreign nationals without a valid AEP shall also pay a fine of Ten Thousand Pesos (P10,000.00) for every year or a fraction thereof.”
Backs:
“An AEP shall not be required for the issuance of a PPW. In lieu thereof, proof of application for an AEP shall suffice.”
Backs:
“A PPW shall be valid for a maximum period of one (1) year.”
Backs:
“The fees for applications for conversion of admission status from temporary visitor under Section 9 (a) of the Philippine Immigration Act to pre-arranged employment visa under Section 9(g) of the same law shall be as follows: a) the fee for a principal applicant shall be two thousand five hundred pesos (P2,500) multiplied by the number of years that the applicant has been authorized to work in the country as reflected in the AEP and b) the fee for a dependent shall be one thousand five hundred pesos (P1,500) multiplied by the number of years that the principal has been authorized to work in the country.”
Backs:
“The rules took effect on 10 February 2025 following their mandatory 15-day publication in the Official Gazette or newspaper of general circulation.”
Backs:
“the published ads are only valid for 45 days, such that AEP applications must be submitted within this period.”
Backs:
“Employers of covered establishments shall submit the UTP or SDP plan simultaneously with the AEP application or within sixty (60) days of the commencement of employment of the foreign national.”
Backs:
“Employers shall submit progress reports, based on the submitted UTP/SDP plan on a semi-annual basis (for AEPs with one-year validity) and an annual basis (for AEPs with two- to three-years validity).”
Backs:
“Foreign nationals who are proceeding to Philippines to engage in any lawful occupation, whether for wages or salary or other forms of compensation”
Backs:
Sources for this page
- Bureau of Immigration — Pre-arranged Employment Visa (9G)official
- BOI Memorandum Circular No. AFF-05-001 (Supreme Court E-Library)official
- DOLE Department Order No. 146-15 (Supreme Court E-Library)official
- ACCRALAW — New Rules on the Issuance of Alien Employment Permits
- KPMG GMS Flash Alert 2025-186 — Philippines updates on employment regulations for foreign nationals
- Philippine Embassy Tokyo — 9(G) visa requirementsofficial
Last checked 11 September 2026. Requirements are applied at the discretion of individual embassies and can change without notice. Confirm before you book anything.