Special Temporary Permit · Philippines

Special temporary permit (STP) in the Philippines: the regulator's permit before the job

An engineer, a teacher, a nurse or an architect hired in the Philippines meets a third administration before the labour department and immigration: the Professional Regulation Commission, which decides whether a foreign professional may practise here at all. Asia Relocation Philippines files that permit first, so the employment file behind it is not sent back.

Check the profession → What the permit covers
In the Philippines since 2011 Filed with the Professional Regulation Commission One coordinator for three administrations
3administrations on a professional's file: PRC, DOLE, BI
2011filing professionals in the Philippines since
3categories of permit, each with its own requirements
1renewal, filed before the permit lapses

Most foreign hires here deal with two offices: the labour department for the permit to employ them, the Bureau of Immigration for the visa. A regulated profession adds a third, and it comes first. The Professional Regulation Commission licenses Filipino professionals, and a foreigner who wants to practise one of those professions needs its permission before an employer can put them to work.

The instrument is the special temporary permit: temporary because it is tied to an engagement, special because it is issued to someone who does not hold a Philippine licence. It is governed by the Commission's own rules and grouped into categories, each with profession-specific requirements, which is why the same job title can produce two different files.

Asia Relocation Philippines has sequenced these files for engineers, teachers and health professionals arriving in Manila, Cebu and Clark since 2011. The consultant who reads the category assembles the file, lodges it, and carries the employment permit and the visa that follow.

The perimeter

What the Commission's file carries, and what the other two offices carry

Three permissions, three pages. This one is the first in the sequence for a regulated profession.

Carried by the service

  • The profession check: whether the job requires practising a profession the Commission regulates, and if so, which category of permit and which profession-specific requirements apply.
  • The qualification file: diploma, training and experience, apostilled or authenticated in the issuing country, translated where needed, and checked for names and dates against the passport.
  • The engagement: the contract or project that requires the permit, and, where the rules ask for one, the Filipino professional named to work alongside you, with their licence.
  • Filing and follow-up with the Commission in Manila, until the permit is issued and can be cited in the employment file.
  • The renewal, filed before expiry while the engagement continues, with the contract brought up to date.

The category and its document list are written down before anything is apostilled, because an apostille for the wrong category is money spent twice.

A different page

  • The permission to be employed. The labour department's Alien Employment Permit follows this permit and cites it.
  • The permission to work on a short engagement. A consultant here for months needs the Bureau of Immigration's special work permit as well, on the same file.
  • The right to stay. The employment visa and the registration card are immigration matters, on the pre-arranged employment visa page.
  • Every other route. Marriage, retirement, investment and citizenship do not pass through the Commission; they are on the visa and immigration page.

One file, one coordinator, three administrations. Say the profession in the inquiry and we place it in the sequence.

Situations

Four professionals, and where the Commission's permit sits for each

The permit is the same instrument; what changes is the category and what comes after it.

Engineer or architect on a project

The most common file: a professional sent to a Philippine project for a defined period. The permit is tied to the project, the qualification file is heavy on training certificates, and a Filipino professional is often named alongside.

Project-bound

Teacher at an international school

Education is a regulated profession, and the school files for the permit before the employment permit. Term dates make the sequence tight; the apostilles start before the flight to Manila.

Term dates

Doctor, nurse or health professional

The category with the most profession-specific requirements, and the one where the engagement's purpose decides the file. Read carefully before a single document is authenticated.

Health

Consultant on a short engagement

A technical consultant here for months needs the immigration work permit and, if the consultancy is a regulated practice, this permit too. Two filings, sequenced so neither waits on the other.

Two permits
How it works

Category first, apostilles abroad, then the Commission, then the rest

  1. The profession and the category

    The job title read against the professions the Commission regulates, and the category read from the engagement. This decides the document list, so it is done before anything else.

  2. The qualification file, before you fly

    Diploma, training and experience apostilled or authenticated in the issuing country, translated where needed. The slowest step, and the one that is easier from home than from Manila.

  3. The engagement documents

    The contract or project that requires the permit, the employer's papers, and where the rules ask for it, the Filipino professional named alongside you with a copy of their licence.

  4. Filing with the Commission

    Lodged in Manila and followed until the permit is issued. The Commission publishes the permits it grants each month, and the file is not closed until yours appears.

  5. The employment permit, the visa, the renewal

    With the permit issued, the labour department's file opens and cites it, then the visa. The permit's expiry goes into our calendar, and the renewal is filed before it while the engagement lasts.

Who it's for

The employers and professionals who meet the third administration

Engineering and construction companies

Projects in Manila, Cebu and Clark that bring in foreign engineers for defined phases. The permit is tied to the project and renewed with it.

International schools

Teachers arriving for a school year, with term dates that do not move. The school's HR files the permit before the employment permit, every year.

Hospitals and clinics

Foreign doctors and nurses on defined engagements, in the category with the most profession-specific requirements. Read once, filed once.

Professionals who are not sure their job is regulated

A technical role with an ambiguous title. The answer decides whether there are two offices on the file or three, and it is the first thing we check.

Coverage

Filed with the Commission in Manila, for employers anywhere in the country

Employers in Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark; the permit is a Professional Regulation Commission filing in Manila.

The Commission sits in Manila and the permit is filed there, whatever the region of the project or the school. A hospital in Cebu or a contractor in Clark sends its file, not its HR manager; we lodge and follow it in the capital.

The two filings that follow go to two other offices: the labour department's regional office for the employment permit, the Bureau of Immigration for the visa. The same consultant carries all three, which keeps a professional from being sent to ask the other counter.

FAQ

What regulated professionals ask before practising in the Philippines

Is the special temporary permit a visa?
No. It is a permit from the Professional Regulation Commission allowing a foreign professional to practise a regulated profession in the Philippines for a limited time. It says nothing about your right to stay or to be employed; those come from the Bureau of Immigration and the labour department, on separate files.
Which professions need it?
Those regulated by the Commission: engineering, architecture, medicine and nursing, teaching, and the other professions with a Philippine licensing board. If your job title matches one of them, the permit comes first; if it does not, you may not need it at all, and we check that first.
Where does it sit in the sequence with the employment permit?
Before it. The labour department's employment permit assumes you are allowed to practise the profession the job requires, so the regulator's permit is obtained first and cited in the employment file. Filing them in the wrong order sends the second one back.
What documents does the Commission ask for?
Proof of your qualification and training, apostilled or authenticated in the issuing country, the contract or engagement that requires the permit, a valid passport, photographs, and the profession-specific requirements of your category. Where a Filipino professional is named to work alongside you, their licence goes in the file.
How long is it valid?
For the engagement it was issued for, renewable while the engagement continues. The Commission's guidelines set the term; in practice a permit runs up to a year, and we confirm the period on your file before the employer plans around it. The renewal is filed before expiry with the contract brought up to date; a lapsed permit stops the employment file behind it.
Can I file it before I arrive in the Philippines?
The qualification documents can and should be apostilled before you fly, because that step is slower from here. The application itself is lodged with the Commission in Manila, with the contract, and followed there.
Does a short engagement need it as well as the special work permit?
If the engagement is in a regulated profession, yes: the work permit from immigration says you may work, the Commission's permit says you may practise. They are separate filings on the same file, sequenced so neither waits on the other at the wrong moment.
What are the three categories?
The Commission groups applications into categories with their own profession-specific requirements. Which one you fall into depends on the reason for the practice, the engagement and the profession, and it decides the documents. We read the category before assembling the file, not after.
Not what you were looking for?

The permit after this one, and the silo above

You have the Commission's permit, you need the employer's

The labour department's permit that cites this one and opens the employment visa.

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Every route into the Philippines, on one page

Employment, marriage, retirement, investment, citizenship, and what comes after the first visa.

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Tell us the profession and the engagement, and we place the permit in the sequence

One coordinator for the Commission, the labour department and immigration, with the apostilles started before you fly.

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