Alien Employment Permit (AEP) in the Philippines: the permit that comes before the work visa
A foreign national hired by a Philippine company does not start with a visa but with a permit from the Department of Labor and Employment, granted after the employer has shown that the position could not be filled locally. Asia Relocation Philippines builds that file with HR, lodges it, and carries it to the visa it unlocks.
Immigration authority in the Philippines is split between offices, and the employment file is where a newcomer meets that first. The Bureau of Immigration issues the visa on the strength of a permit from the Department of Labor and Employment, which only issues it after a test of the local labour market. A company that starts with the visa starts at the wrong end.
The Alien Employment Permit says a Philippine employer may employ this person in this position. It is granted to the pair, not to the person alone, which is why the file is mostly the company's, and why a change of employer means a new application, not a transfer.
Asia Relocation Philippines has filed these permits for companies in Manila, Cebu and Clark since 2011. The consultant who assembles the file with HR follows it at the regional office, then carries the visa application that depends on it.
What the permit file carries, and what belongs to the visa pages
The permit is one step in a sequence; the pages that carry the other steps are on the right.
Carried by the service
- The eligibility check: whether the position and the Philippine employer qualify, and whether you fall into a category exempt from the permit or excluded from it, before a peso is spent.
- The labour market test: the vacancy published as the rules require, and the justification for hiring a foreign national written with HR.
- The employer's file: registration papers, the latest information sheet, the permit to operate, the tax return with proof of payment, the board resolution where the signatory needs one.
- The employee's file: passport, taxpayer number verified with the revenue bureau, photographs, and the professional permit where the occupation is regulated.
- Filing, follow-up and the card: lodged at the regional office that covers the workplace, in Manila, Cebu or Clark, followed until the permit and its card are issued, the expiry tracked for renewal.
The order of events and the documents each side owes are set out in writing before the file opens.
A different page
- The visa the permit unlocks. The long-term employment visa is granted on the strength of this permit: the pre-arranged employment visa, filed once the permit exists.
- Working while the visa is pending. The bridge is the provisional work permit from the Bureau of Immigration, not this page.
- A short assignment. A consultant or trainer here for a defined period may need the special work permit instead of an employment file.
- A regulated profession. Engineers, teachers and health professionals need the special temporary permit from the professional regulator, often before this permit.
All of these run on the same file with the same coordinator. The inquiry form asks for the situation, not the category.
Four moments in the life of an employment permit
One permit, four files.
A new hire arriving from abroad
The full sequence: labour market test, employer's file, permit, then the employment visa filed on it. The company's documents decide the pace, and we start with them while the employee is still abroad, before the flight to Manila.
Renewal
Filed before the permit expires, with the employer's file brought up to date. A renewal that lapses takes the visa with it, so the date is tracked from the first issue.
A change of employer or position
A new application rather than an amendment: the permit belongs to the pairing of person and Philippine employer. The old file is closed and the visa behind it downgraded before the new one opens.
Exemption or exclusion
Some categories of foreign national do not need the permit, or are excluded from it, and obtain a certificate saying so. Faster than a permit nobody needed, and checked first.
The labour department first, then immigration, then the card
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Eligibility and the category
The position, the employer's registration and your own status, read against the rules: permit, exemption or exclusion. Where the profession is regulated, the professional permit comes first.
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The labour market test
The vacancy is published as the rules require and the justification is written with HR. The step companies underestimate, and the one that decides whether the file is read once or sent back.
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The employer's file and the employee's file
Assembled in parallel, each side owing its own documents, checked against each other for names, dates and passport numbers.
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Filing and follow-up
Lodged at the regional office that covers the workplace, in Manila, Cebu or Clark, and followed until the permit and its card are issued.
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The visa, then the renewal date
With the permit in hand, the employment visa is filed at the Bureau of Immigration on the same file. The permit's expiry goes into our calendar, and the renewal is opened before it is due.
Four parties to one employment permit
Companies hiring their first foreign employee
The employer's file is the longer half and the company has never assembled it. We build it with HR; it is reusable for the next hire.
Transferees with a start date
The date is fixed and the sequence is not negotiable. We say at the quote stage where it can compress, and plan the provisional bridge if needed.
HR and mobility teams with several files a year
One employer's file kept current, one calendar of renewals, one report at the interval you set.
Residents who take a job
A retiree or an investor offered a position is normally sent to the labour department for a permit; a spouse of a Filipino citizen usually is not. We confirm which applies before the contract is signed.
Filed at the regional office that covers the workplace
Files lodged for employers in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark, and followed at the Bureau of Immigration for the visa that follows.
The labour department works through regional offices, and the permit is filed where the job is: the capital's office for a company in Makati, BGC or Ortigas, the regional office for Cebu or Clark. Knowing which counter holds the file is most of the follow-up.
The visa built on the permit is then a Bureau of Immigration matter, filed in Manila. The same consultant carries both.
What employers and employees ask before the first filing in the Philippines
Is the Alien Employment Permit a visa?
Who files the application, the employer or the employee?
What is the labour market test?
Can I start work while the permit is being processed?
How long is the permit valid, and how is it renewed?
Are some foreign nationals exempt from the permit?
What documents does the employee provide?
What happens to the permit when the job ends?
The visa after the permit, and the whole silo above it
You have the permit, you need the visa
The long-term employment visa granted on the strength of this permit, and the registration card that follows.
Pre-arranged employment 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 →Send us the offer and the employer, and we set out the sequence
One coordinator, from the labour department to the Bureau of Immigration.
Start the permit file →