What does emigrating to the Philippines cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The application differs per route: the SRRV costs 1,500 dollars for you, 300 dollars per dependent and 360 dollars a year, next to a deposit from 15,000 dollars that you set aside at an accredited bank. As a tourist the first extension costs 3,030 pesos, about 43 euros, and after that you pay again at every extension, with 50 dollars for the ACR I-Card. The 13(a) visa costs 8,620 pesos and 50 dollars, and the conversion to permanent the same again. The money further sits in two items: the health policy that replaces the CAK and returns every year, and the move. One thing we state honestly. The Bureau of Immigration's rates have been on its site since 2014; at the counter the amount may differ.
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A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.700 – € 14.900
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 2.000 – € 6.000
- Health insurance, first year€ 600 – € 4.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 350 – € 2.800
- De verhuizing
- € 550 – € 1.400
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.700 – € 10.700
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Your right of residence, the SRRV, a 13(a) or a 9(g)€ 150 – € 1.400
- The annual fee to the PRA, with the SRRV€ 0 – € 350
- Extending your stay as a tourist, with the ACR I-Card€ 40 – € 500
- VOG, apostilles, English translations and the medical certificate(estimate)€ 200 – € 550
The amount depends on the number of documents. For the SRRV you hand in a VOG no older than six months, a medical certificate on the PRA's form, and the marriage and birth certificates of whoever comes along. For the 13(a) it's the marriage certificate and the documents of your Filipino partner. Every Dutch document gets an apostille from the court; that has been possible since 14 May 2019. Every document that isn't in English you have translated. There's no fixed rate anywhere for that translation; count on a few tens of euros per document. If you have already been in the Philippines for 90 days when you apply (for the SRRV) or six months (for the 13(a)), an NBI Clearance comes on top, the Philippine VOG. There's no rate at an official source for the medical certificate.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 550 – € 1.400
The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with two extra suitcases pays the top. The amount is for one way from Amsterdam to Manila or Cebu, with one or two changes. On arrival you show a ticket out of the country; count that too if you don't have a visa yet.
De eerste maanden
- Health insurance, first year(estimate)€ 600 – € 4.000
This is the biggest recurring item for this destination, and the premium depends mainly on your age. The Philippines isn't on the CAK's list of treaty countries: your Dutch healthcare doesn't continue, and you buy an international policy yourself. Besides that you can join PhilHealth voluntarily, the Philippine health insurance fund. The premium for foreigners was 15,000 pesos a year with the SRRV and 17,000 pesos with an ACR I-Card, about 210 and 240 euros (circular from 2017; check the current amount). The bottom here is a simple policy at a younger age, the top a comprehensive international policy for two people of advanced age.
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.000 – € 6.000
This item consists of rent paid in advance, the deposit, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. The rent law that caps the deposit only applies to cheap homes: up to 10,000 pesos a month in Metro Manila and the big cities, up to 5,000 pesos elsewhere. There a landlord may ask at most 1 month in advance and 2 months' deposit. An ordinary rental for an emigrant falls outside it; then it's an agreement. Count the exchange-rate risk too: your income comes in euros, life runs in pesos.
- Bank, phone, tax number, tax adviser and the first desks(estimate)€ 150 – € 600
Small money, but it's here because it all comes at once in the first weeks. It's about an account at a bank in the Philippines, a local SIM card, a tax number (TIN) from the BIR, the copies and passport photos you hand in again at every desk, and a conversation with a tax adviser. With an ACR I-Card you also report to the BI every year (the Annual Report, now 310 pesos). In cash you may bring in or take out at most 50,000 pesos; foreign currency above 10,000 dollars you declare.
- A Philippine driving licence€ 10 – € 80
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 2 to 9% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 5.000 to € 22.500.
The fixed item for the buyer is the documentary stamp tax on the deed: 15 pesos per 1,000 pesos, so 1.5 percent of the price or the market value, whichever is higher (tax code, section 196). The capital gains tax of 6 percent and the transfer tax of at most 0.5 percent (in a city at most 0.75 percent) lie with the seller by law. In the contract you can agree otherwise; if the buyer takes over everything, you're at the top. On top of that come the registration at the Registry of Deeds and the notary; they're not at an official source as a percentage. Only the registration makes you the owner.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
A foreigner may not own land in the Philippines (Constitution, article XII section 7); only inheriting is an exception. A flat in a condominium, yes, as long as foreigners together hold at most 40 percent of the building (Condominium Act, section 5). Leasing land is possible for at most 25 years, renewable once for 25 years (PD 471). With SRRV Classic you may, with the PRA's permission, convert the deposit into the purchase of a condominium; the deed then states that selling is only allowed with the PRA's permission.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 20 October 2026.
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From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming, which route, and whether the household goods and the pet come along. It also watches the clocks: the thirty days until your first extension, the six months of your certificate of conduct and your medical certificate, and the Annual Report at the start of every year. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
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