The Philippines’ FIP Investor Visa | A Complete Guide

Overview:

In 2024, the Philippine government launched a new investment visa option, the FIP Investor Visa. This program is designed to serve the local Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) and requires applicants to deposit USD 75,000 with a FAB partner, along with submitting a certificate of no criminal record, a personal resume, and a valid passport, in exchange for permanent residency in the Philippines.

Aside from the basic requirements mentioned above, the FIP program imposes almost no other restrictions on participants: there are no net asset or income requirements, no additional investment requirements, and no actual residency requirements. Participants in the program are free to work, study, and live in the Philippines.

The entire process, from submitting the application to receiving approval, takes no more than seven days. After living freely in the Philippines for ten years, participants in the FIP Investor Visa program are eligible to apply for naturalization and become citizens of the country.

Application Process:

The entire application process for the Philippine FIP Investor Visa program is very simple and can be roughly divided into the following steps:

1. Preliminary Preparations: In this step, you need to reach an agreement with an officially recognized intermediary agency, sign the relevant visa contracts, gather all the required documents, and pay a visa fee of USD 20,000.

Required documents for this program include:

• Applicant’s identity information: This includes copies of valid passports for all primary and secondary applicants, as well as relationship verification documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates.

• Personal resume: The primary applicant needs to provide a brief resume that includes basic information on education and work experience.

• Certificate of no criminal record: All adult primary and secondary applicants must provide a certificate of no criminal record issued by the law enforcement agency in their place of residence.

All non-English documents must be translated into English, and all documents issued outside of the Philippines must be notarized.

2. Submission of Application: Your intermediary agency will organize all the documents, fill out the application forms, and submit the visa application to FAB on your behalf.

3. Preliminary Approval: Once your application is approved, FAB will issue a Preliminary Approval letter. At this point, with the assistance of your intermediary, you will need to travel to the Philippines to take an oral oath for Philippine permanent residency.

4. Obtaining Permanent Residency: After the oral oath, you and your family will officially obtain permanent residency in the Philippines.

Dependents:

Under the Philippine FIP Investor Visa program, the main applicant’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 can obtain the visa as secondary applicants.

Citizenship:

After legally residing in the Philippines for ten years, if you can demonstrate integration into Philippine society, a basic understanding of the local political system, history, and culture, and the ability to speak Filipino, you may choose to apply for naturalization and become a citizen of the Philippines.

For foreign investors who establish new industries or introduce new technologies in the Philippines, the residency requirement can be reduced to five years.