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Oct 1

What my 13A actually cost, both stages, item by item

Cost questions come up here all the time and the answers are all over the place. I've seen ₱7,380, ₱11,010, ₱12,000, and even '₱20,000 to 50,000' quoted for the same thing. So here's exactly what I paid, with the receipts in front of me.

I filed both stages myself at a provincial district office. No agency, no fixer, no lawyer.

The conversion filing, December 2024

Main receipt, ₱7,153:
Application fee ₱1,000
Implementation fee ₱500
Passport visa fee ₱200
Documentary stamp tax ₱30
Form ₱50
Legal research fee ₱60
Immigrant Certificate of Residence (ICR) ₱1,400
Amendment fee ₱500
Certificate fee ₱500
ACR I-Card ₱2,913

Then a second receipt, printed the same minute, ₱2,500:
Express fee, implementation ₱1,000
Express fee, I-Card processing ₱500
Express fee, filing ₱500
Express fee, certification ₱500

₱9,653 in cash at the window, before anything was approved.

I never asked for express service. There's simply no regular lane on offer. It's charged automatically, and it doesn't appear on any published fee schedule I've found.

Two things about those numbers

The ACR I-Card fee isn't a round number (₱2,913) because it's set at US$50 and collected in pesos at that day's rate. Yours will differ.

The probationary stage has the same structure. Published schedules put processing at around ₱8,620, plus the card.

What's missing from every quote you'll see

Notary, photocopies, folders, photos. And if your office is in another province, the trip. Mine is a three-hour drive, so it's fuel, a night's stay and food. About ₱4,000 each time.

That last item is roughly a quarter of the real cost, and it's on no fee schedule anywhere. If you live in Roxas, Kalibo, Tacloban or Dumaguete, budget an overnight for each filing.

Real total: around ₱14,000 per stage. Roughly ₱28,000 for the whole thing.

The ongoing costs

Annual report, ₱1,310 online. That's ₱300 for the report itself and a ₱1,000 express fee, for a process done entirely over video call.

Exit clearance when I travel was ₱3,690, but that included the annual report, because I filed them together and they shared one express fee. Worth doing if your trip falls around January.

Happy to answer anything specific!

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Reactions32 of 33 original comments
Documents and orderCompared with SRRVExit and regional costsBI office ordealsCheap for PRAgency vs DIY
Documents and order
KingSmoov2

Did you have to get NBI clearance in your own country? What else was required before actually filing the visa?

Compared with SRRV
AmericaninSEA4

Thanks for the detailed breakdown of your 13A. Definitely helpful. I went the SRRV route… and, like you, did it all on my own.

Exit and regional costs
basinbasinbasin2

When you travel outside the Philippines, do you pay the TIEZA tax on top of the BI fee, or just the BI fee?

BI office ordeals
creminology2

A BI office in Pampanga told me that if I didn't pay a ₱30,000 express fee, my 13A had a good chance of being rejected. I refused. Then they jerked me around for months, even booking one appointment on a Pampanga holiday when they were closed. I finally got it processed in Nueva Ecija.

Cheap for PR
Mission_Conflict_3224

I'm on a 13A too. Never added it up, but it's peanuts for permanent residency. No hassle going to BI for visa extensions. Just the annual report once a year.

Agency vs DIY
Saltyseadog19612

Interesting - I recently got a 13A quote from a visa agency, and it came back at just under US$1,000 plus ₱14,000. Their fee was in dollars, while the BI and ACR fees were in pesos - obviously taking advantage of the current exchange rate! I'll follow your lead and do it myself.

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