13A visa in the Philippines: residence for the foreign spouse of a Filipino citizen
A marriage to a Philippine citizen opens the firmest residence route the country offers a foreign national, and it is granted in two stages: a probationary visa, then permanent residence. Asia Relocation Philippines assembles the file, prepares you for the hearing, and dates the second stage the day the first is stamped.
Residence through marriage is the route that gives binational families in the Philippines the firmest footing: it is an immigrant visa rather than a non-immigrant one, not tied to an employer, and it normally carries the right to work. It is granted in two stages, and the second is the one households forget once the first card is in the wallet.
The Bureau of Immigration converts the foreign spouse's stay into a probationary immigrant visa on the basis of the marriage, after a hearing, then into permanent residence on a second filing. Each stage has its own file, hearing and registration card, and the whole thing rests on the marriage: if the marriage ends, so does the status.
Asia Relocation Philippines has run these files since 2011, from Manila and for couples in Cebu and Clark. The consultant who checks the route assembles the documents, prepares you for the hearing, and keeps the date of the second stage.
What the marriage file carries, and what belongs to another page
Two other routes look like this one from a distance; they are on the right.
Carried by the service
- The route check: whether your nationality qualifies for the immigrant visa by marriage or points to the temporary resident visa, and whether your current stay is valid on the day of filing.
- The documents: passport, the marriage certificate apostilled or authenticated where the marriage was abroad, your spouse's birth certificate from the statistics authority, the police clearance where the timing requires it, and the office's forms filled in once.
- The first stage: pre-screening, payment, the hearing prepared and attended with you, image and fingerprints captured, the probationary visa implemented in the passport and the registration card claimed.
- The second stage: the conversion to permanent residence filed when due, with its own hearing and card, dated in our calendar from the first stamp.
- The household: unmarried children under twenty-one included as dependants, each with proof of relationship, documents and card.
The whole sequence, both stages, is set out in writing before the first form is filled.
A different page
- A nationality without reciprocity. Where your country does not grant Filipinos the same privilege, residence by marriage is the temporary resident visa, renewed rather than made permanent.
- A spouse who is a former Filipino. If your husband or wife lost Philippine citizenship by naturalising abroad, re-acquiring it may change your route entirely; we check that first.
- Everything after the card. The annual report, the card's renewal, the exit clearance before a trip: our other immigration services.
- The home you will live in. Finding it and negotiating the Letter of Intent is home search in Manila, on the same file if you wish.
One coordinator, whichever route the nationality turns out to need.
Four couples, and where each one starts
The same visa, entered from four different places.
Married abroad, arriving on a visitor stay
The commonest file: the marriage certificate apostilled in the country of the wedding, the stay kept valid, the conversion filed in Manila. The apostille is easier from abroad than from here.
Married in the Philippines
The certificate comes from the statistics authority rather than from abroad, which removes the apostille and shortens the file. The rest of the sequence is identical.
Already resident on another visa
An employee or an investor who marries a Filipino citizen and wants a status that is not tied to a job or a deposit. The old status is closed properly before the marriage route opens.
Probationary visa in hand, second stage due
Granted a while ago, the year nearly over, the conversion not filed. The second stage is a file of its own; we open it before the probationary period ends.
Route, documents, hearing, card, then the second stage
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The route
Your nationality read against reciprocity, your current stay checked, your spouse's status confirmed. If the answer is the temporary resident visa or a citizenship route, we say so now.
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The documents
Marriage certificate apostilled or authenticated where needed, the spouse's birth certificate from the statistics authority, the police clearance if the timing calls for it, names and dates checked across every page.
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Filing and the hearing
Pre-screening at the Bureau of Immigration in Manila, payment, then the hearing on the date shown on the receipt. We prepare you for it and attend it with you; image and fingerprints are captured the same day.
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Implementation and the card
Once approved, the passport is submitted for the visa to be stamped, and the registration card is claimed when issued. The household's cards follow the same path.
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The second stage
The conversion to permanent residence filed when the probationary period ends, with its own hearing and card. Then the annual report and the card's renewal, tracked for as long as you are on our books.
The families the marriage route is written for
Couples settling in the Philippines for good
A foreign spouse and a Filipino citizen choosing to build their life in Manila, Cebu or Clark. The immigrant visa is the status that matches the intention.
Spouses who intend to work
A status that normally carries the right to work without the employment route, and the one we recommend when a career here is part of the plan.
Families with children under twenty-one
Included as dependants on proof of the relationship, each with a card. Mapped before filing so nobody is left on a visitor stay.
Holders whose probationary year is ending
The second stage is due and nobody told them. We open it before the period ends, so permanent residence follows without a gap.
Filed in Manila or at an authorised office, for couples anywhere in the country
The visa is a Bureau of Immigration filing at the main office in Manila or at other offices authorised for it; the couples we serve live in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark.
The conversion by marriage is one of the transactions the Bureau of Immigration allows at offices outside the capital, which matters for a couple in Cebu: the hearing may not require a trip to Manila. We choose the office that shortens the file's journey and tell you where the hearing will be.
The documents that come from abroad, the marriage certificate above all, are the slow part, and they are slower from here. We start them before you fly.
What binational couples ask before filing in the Philippines
Who can apply for the 13A visa?
Why are there two stages?
Can I work on it without a separate permit?
What documents does the file need?
What happens at the hearing?
Can our children be included?
Can I travel while the application is pending?
What if the marriage ends?
The other marriage route, and the silo above
Your country has no reciprocity agreement
Residence by marriage for nationals the immigrant visa does not reach: renewed, not made permanent.
Temporary resident visa →Every route into the Philippines, on one page
Employment, marriage, retirement, investment, citizenship, and what comes after the first visa.
Visa and immigration services in the Philippines →Tell us your nationality and where you married, and we set out both stages
One coordinator from the first hearing to permanent residence.
Start the marriage file →