Philippines digital nomad visa: requirements (2026)
Digital nomad visa in Philippines: dedicated visa.
The Philippines has a dedicated digital-nomad pathway: Executive Order No. 86 (April 2025) created a Digital Nomad Visa allowing foreign remote workers earning income from outside the country to stay up to one year, renewable for a second year, with multiple-entry privileges. The DFA issues the visa and the program began rolling out within 60 days of the EO (i.e., from ~June 2025). Separately, the country offers established residency routes for retirees (SRRV) and investors (SIRV).
Legal framework
Executive Order No. 86, s. 2025 (signed 24 April 2025), establishing the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV); issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) with support from the Bureau of Immigration, and complemented by long-standing residency routes administered by the Philippine Retirement Authority (SRRV) and Board of Investments (SIRV).
Key points: digital nomad & residency in Philippines
Dedicated DNV created by EO 86
Executive Order No. 86, s. 2025, signed by President Marcos on 24 April 2025, authorizes the DFA to issue Digital Nomad Visas to qualified non-immigrant foreigners who work remotely using digital technology.
Duration and entry
DNV holders may stay up to one year, renewable for the same period, and may be granted multiple-entry privileges during validity.
Eligibility conditions
Applicants must be at least 18, work remotely for foreign employers/clients with income sourced only from abroad, hold valid health insurance, have no criminal record, and be nationals of a country that offers a reciprocal digital-nomad visa to Filipinos.
Reciprocity requirement is a key gate
EO 86 limits the DNV to nationals of countries that grant a reciprocal digital-nomad visa to Philippine citizens; applicants should verify their nationality qualifies, as the operational list of reciprocal countries was not yet publicly consolidated at the EO's issuance.
Retirement residency route (SRRV)
The Philippine Retirement Authority's Special Resident Retiree's Visa grants indefinite, multiple-entry residence to foreigners (now from age 40) via a refundable bank deposit (e.g., US$10,000-US$50,000 depending on age/pension status), a long-stay option some relocators use alongside or instead of the DNV.
Investor residency route (SIRV)
The Board of Investments' Special Investor's Resident Visa grants indefinite residence to foreigners who remit at least US$75,000 and convert it into an eligible Philippine investment within 180 days, the country's investment-based residency program (not a citizenship-by-investment scheme).
Timeline of decisions
- DecisionExpanded SRRV Launched, Minimum Age Cut to 40, Deposit Tiers Restructured
The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) introduced the Expanded Special Resident Retiree's Visa, lowering the qualifying age from 50 to 40 and creating new tiered deposit requirements (USD 25,000-50,000 for ages 40-49; USD 15,000-30,000 for ages 50+). The change reopened retirement residency to a broader international market after the SRRV Smile (age 35+) had been suspended since 2020.
ACCRALAW (Philippine Retirement Authority implementing guidelines)
- Decision · officialDigital Nomad Visa Program Begins Accepting Applications at Philippine Foreign Service Posts
Sixty days after President Marcos signed Executive Order No. 86, the Department of Foreign Affairs opened Digital Nomad Visa applications through overseas Philippine consulates, granting a one-year multiple-entry stay renewable once to remote workers earning income exclusively from abroad, and exempt from Philippine income tax on that foreign-sourced income.
Presidential Communications Office
- GuidanceDigital Nomad Visa Applications Open, DFA/BI Portal Goes Live
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Immigration launched the Digital Nomad Visa application portal per the 30-day implementation deadline set by EO 86. Holders may stay up to 12 months (renewable once), are not treated as Philippine tax residents, and are barred from engaging any local employer.
ASEAN Briefing / DFA-BI joint implementation
- Law · officialPresident Marcos Signs Executive Order No. 86, Digital Nomad Visa Formally Established
EO 86 authorized the DFA to issue Digital Nomad Visas to foreign nationals working remotely for overseas employers, capping stays at one year with one renewal and requiring reciprocity (the applicant's country must offer an equivalent visa to Filipino citizens). It is the Philippines' first executive instrument creating a dedicated remote-worker residency track.
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
- Law · officialSenate Bill 2991 (Digital Nomad Visa Act) Filed by Senator Villanueva
Senator Joel Villanueva introduced SB 2991 to create a statutory Digital Nomad Visa framework, proposing a one-year renewable visa for foreign remote workers earning income exclusively from outside the Philippines. The bill provided legislative momentum that prompted the executive action through EO 86 two months later.
Philippine News Agency
- Decision · officialPresident Marcos Publicly Directs Drafting of a Digital Nomad Visa Executive Order
During a working session with the Private Sector Advisory Council for Tourism, President Marcos backed an immediate executive-order solution, without waiting for Congress, and directed the Office of the Executive Secretary to draft the instrument. This political commitment was the decisive trigger that set EO 86's multi-agency drafting process in motion.
Philippine News Agency
- Guidance · officialDICT Launches 1st Philippine Digital Nomad Summit in Siargao, Showcasing HB 8165
The Department of Information and Communications Technology, together with Rep. Matugas and the Mindanao Development Authority, convened the country's first national digital-nomad policy summit in Del Carmen, Siargao Island, drawing more than 300 local and global participants. The event elevated digital nomad policy to a national agenda item and gave public momentum to the pending House Bill 8165.
Department of Information and Communications Technology
- LawHouse Passes Immigration Modernization Act (HB 8203), First Overhaul of CA 613 Since 1940
The House of Representatives approved HB 8203, introducing a new visa architecture (G, H, J, K, L visa classes), raising the per-nationality quota immigrant ceiling from 50 to 200, and replacing the 83-year-old framework of Commonwealth Act 613. As of 2026 the Senate counterpart bill remains pending, so the 1940 Act is still operative law.
ACCRALAW
- LawRep. Matugas Files House Bill 8165, First Philippines Digital Nomad Visa Legislation
Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas II introduced HB 8165, the Philippines' first comprehensive digital-nomad visa bill, proposing a renewable 12-month visa for remote workers earning at least US$2,000 per month from foreign clients, with income-tax exemption on foreign-sourced earnings. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Justice and provided the policy blueprint ultimately adopted in EO 86.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
- LawHouse Bill 8165, Philippines' First Legislative Proposal for a Digital Nomad Visa
Rep. Francisco Jose Matugas II filed HB 8165 proposing a one-year renewable digital nomad visa for foreigners working remotely for foreign employers, explicitly excluding them from Philippine tax residency. The bill was the first formal attempt in Congress and seeded subsequent Senate and executive action.
GMA News Online
- Decision · officialSRRV Classic Processing Resumes, SRRV Smile Remains Suspended
The Philippine Retirement Authority re-opened acceptance of SRRV Classic applications for retirees aged 50 and above after an eight-month COVID-era policy-review suspension. The lower-age SRRV Smile (35+) was left suspended indefinitely, significantly narrowing the Philippines' long-term residency offering for younger foreign retirees.
Philippine Retirement Authority
- Decision · officialPRA Suspends All SRRV Applications for Policy Review
The Department of Tourism-attached PRA Board suspended acceptance of all new Special Resident Retiree's Visa applications effective October 23, pending a review of age and deposit policies. The abrupt closure highlighted governance vulnerabilities in the Philippines' primary long-term residency pathway and triggered lasting structural changes.
Department of Tourism Philippines
- LawRepublic Act No. 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009) Places PRA Under Department of Tourism
The Tourism Act of 2009 reorganised the Philippine Retirement Authority as an attached agency of the Department of Tourism, integrating long-term retiree residency promotion into the country's broader inbound-tourism strategy and giving the SRRV program a clear mandate to attract sustained foreign visitor spending.
LawPhil Philippine Legal Database
- LawExecutive Order No. 26 Renames and Restructures the PRA, Transfers Supervision to DTI/BOI
EO 26 renamed the Philippine Retirement Park System as the Philippine Retirement Authority and placed it under the Board of Investments within the Department of Trade and Industry, reframing long-term retiree residency as a foreign-investment and foreign-exchange generation tool rather than a parks program.
LawPhil Philippine Legal Database
- Law · officialExecutive Order 1037 Creates the Philippine Retirement Authority and the SRRV
President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. signed EO 1037, establishing the Philippine Retirement Park System (later renamed the Philippine Retirement Authority) and launching the Special Resident Retiree's Visa, the Philippines' first structured long-term residency and indefinite multiple-entry pathway for foreign nationals, designed to attract foreign exchange inflows.
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
- Law · officialCommonwealth Act 613 Enacted, Foundational Philippine Immigration Law
The National Assembly passed CA 613 (the Philippine Immigration Act), establishing the Bureau of Immigration and creating the entire non-immigrant (Section 9) and immigrant/permanent-resident (Section 13) visa framework that still governs foreign-national entry today, including the 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa used by foreign workers in the absence of a dedicated remote-work category.
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
Sources
- officialgazette.gov.ph/2025/04/24/executive-order-no-86-s-2025/
- lawphil.net/executive/execord/eo2025/eo_86_2025.html
- ey.com/en_gl/technical/tax-alerts/philippines-announces-new-digital-nomad-vi
- kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/gms-flash-alert/flash-alert-2025-088.html
- fragomen.com/insights/philippines-digital-nomad-visa-program-forthcoming.html
- pra.gov.ph/SRRVisa
- boi.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/SIRV-FAQ.pdf
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