Nationals of about 157 countries enter the Philippines without a visa for 30 days. Staying longer means a 9A extension at the Bureau of Immigration, and the first one costs 3 030 PHP and takes you to 59 days.
Past 59 days the arithmetic changes, because an ACR I-Card becomes mandatory and the monthly extensions cost more than the first one. The calculator below prices your exact stay against the published schedule.
Calculator
What will your visa extension cost?
Count from your date of entry to your date of departure.
The ACR I-Card does not apply to under 16s.
No immigration fees
You stay inside the 30 day visa-free allowance.
Who gets 30 days on arrival
The 30 day allowance is granted at the counter, not applied for in advance. It is a stamp, not a visa, which is why the extension that follows is called a visa waiver rather than a renewal.
The list, and what it does not cover
The visa-free list runs to roughly 157 nationalities and includes the whole of the EU and Schengen area, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and most of Southeast Asia and Latin America.
If your passport is not on that list you need a visa before you fly, and the extension rules and fees that follow are different. Check your own nationality rather than assuming, because the list is amended.
The two things checked at boarding
Airlines are liable for passengers refused entry, so they check two documents before they let you on.
- A passport valid at least six months beyond your date of arrival.
- An onward or return ticket with a date inside your permitted stay.
The onward ticket is the one that catches people out. If you plan to extend once you are there, you still need a ticket dated within 30 days at the moment you board.
e-Travel: free, mandatory, and a strict 72 hour window
Every arrival and every departure requires an e-Travel registration, whatever your nationality or visa type. It replaced the paper arrival card and it takes under ten minutes.
It is free. Any site charging you for it is a reseller, not the government.
The e-Travel window opens 72 hours before arrival and not a minute earlier. Registering four days ahead does not make you organised, it makes your QR code invalid at the counter.
Register on the official portal at etravel.gov.ph, inside that window, and keep the QR code on your phone. Airlines increasingly ask to see it before boarding rather than at check-in.
What the 9A extension costs
The Bureau of Immigration publishes its schedule, which is unusual enough in the region to be worth saying. The figures below are that schedule, read on 16 August 2026.
The first extension, 30 to 59 days
The first extension adds 29 days to your initial 30, taking you to 59 in total. It is billed as five separate lines that most people only ever see as one total.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Visa waiver fee | 500 PHP |
| Application fee | 1 000 PHP |
| Certification fee | 500 PHP |
| Express lane fee | 1 000 PHP |
| Legal research fee | 30 PHP |
| Total | 3 030 PHP |
That is roughly 50 US dollars for a month, which is cheap by regional standards and is the whole reason so many people end up staying longer than they planned.
Beyond 59 days, and the ACR I-Card
Cross 59 days and two things change at once. Extensions are sold in one-month or two-month blocks at a higher rate, and the ACR I-Card becomes mandatory.
The card costs around 50 US dollars plus an express fee, and it is applied for at the same counter as the extension. Under 16s are exempt, which the calculator accounts for.
Day 59 is the real threshold, not day 30. Crossing it triggers the ACR I-Card and moves you onto a more expensive monthly rate, so a 60 day trip costs materially more than a 59 day one.
Why a two-month block beats two one-month ones
A one-month extension for an adult non-visa-required national was 4 400 PHP, and a two-month block came in below the price of two separate months. If you already know you are staying, ask for the longer block.
Non-visa-required nationals can keep extending up to a total of 36 months. Rates also drop slightly once you pass six months, at which point a Certificate of Residence is required as well.
How the process works on the ground
The first extension can now be filed and paid for online, through the Bureau of Immigration e-services portal. Later extensions are done in person at a Bureau of Immigration office; there are branches in most cities, and you do not have to go back to the one where you arrived.
When to file, and what to bring
File about a week before your current permit expires. Same-day service is the norm at the main offices, and the express lane fee in the schedule is what pays for that.
- Your passport, with the current stamp.
- A completed application form, available at the office.
- Cash, because card payment is not reliable at every branch.
- A photocopy of your passport data page and stamp, which some branches ask for.
Dress code is enforced at some offices, which surprises people who turn up in beachwear after two weeks in a beach town. Closed shoes and covered shoulders are the safe reading.
What overstaying costs
Overstaying is billed at 500 PHP per month started, on top of the fees you already owed. It is not a criminal matter at a few days, but it is recorded.
A long overstay is a different situation and can end in a blacklisting on departure. The fine is the cheap part.
Filing it online, step by step
The portal handles the application and the payment, but it lists eleven services and two of them look like yours. Picking the wrong one costs you a rejected application and fees nobody refunds. Here is the actual path, taken from the user manual the Bureau of Immigration publishes.
Which of the two services is yours?
Two cards on the dashboard compete for your attention. Visa Waiver is described as extending a 30 day visa-free stay by 29 days, which is the one that takes you from 30 to 59. Tourist Visa Extension covers the extensions that come after that.
The form settles it. Tourist Visa Extension asks for an ACR I-Card number, and that card only enters the picture past 59 days, so no card yet means you are on the wrong screen.
The eight steps, in order
The sequence does not vary. Allow around twenty minutes the first time, most of it spent copying passport details.
- Create the account, choosing Individual as the account type. The PhilSys number stays optional for a foreign national.
- Log in, then read the notice about online payment charges.
- Check the personal record the system generates and correct any wrong field before confirming.
- Pick your service from the list of eleven online services.
- Fill the Application Information block: months of extension wanted, reason, latest arrival date, current visa validity.
- Fill the Passport Upon Arrival Information block, with the passport exactly as it stood on arrival.
- Give your address in the Philippines down to the barangay, then the ACR I-Card number if the screen asks for one.
- Submit, collect the Order of Payment Slip and pay.
Three payment channels are offered: Maya and QRPh, Visa, Mastercard, JCB and UnionPay cards, and LandBank. The official receipt then reaches the email address on the account.
What sinks an application
Four traps come up again and again, and the portal documents all four itself.
- Paying online costs more than paying at the counter. A surcharge for the payment provider sits on top of the published schedule.
- Nothing is refunded. The reminder shown before payment leaves no room: once the fees are settled there is no refund, even if the application is later denied.
- An unpaid file dies in five days. An application left at FOR PAYMENT for more than five days flips to INACTIVE and has to be entered again.
- LandBank closes at night. Its payment portal has scheduled downtime around 11:30 PM to 12:40 AM Manila time.
| Status in My Transactions | What it means |
|---|---|
| FOR PAYMENT | The system is waiting for payment confirmation, and flips to INACTIVE after five days |
| FOR EVALUATION | The application is being verified |
| COMPLETED | Processing finished |
The portal warns that inaccurate information can ground a denial and the start of deportation proceedings. Copy the passport field by field, and reconstruct nothing from memory.
One thing neither the portal nor the manual settles: both stop at COMPLETED without saying whether a counter visit is still required. Keep the passport available, and the ability to reach a BI office, until that is written down somewhere. The official extension service page is the only legitimate entry point, and any intermediary charging you to file is a reseller.
Frequently asked questions
How long can you stay in the Philippines without a visa?
30 days on arrival for nationals of around 157 countries. That is extendable in stages up to 36 months for non-visa-required nationals.
How much does the first visa extension cost?
3 030 PHP, which is the total of five separate line items published by the Bureau of Immigration, and it takes you from 30 days to 59.
What is the ACR I-Card and when do you need one?
It is an alien registration card, mandatory once your stay passes 59 days. It costs around 50 US dollars plus an express fee, and under 16s are exempt.
Can you extend a Philippine tourist visa online?
Yes, for the first extension. The Bureau of Immigration e-services portal at e-services.immigration.gov.ph takes the 29 day extension for visa-free arrivals under E.O. 408, payment included, once you have registered an account. Your original passport is still needed for the stamp, and the ACR I-Card required past 59 days means a counter visit for the photo and fingerprints.
Do you need an onward ticket?
Yes, and it is checked by the airline before boarding rather than by immigration on arrival. It must be dated within your permitted stay at that moment, which means within 30 days if you have not yet extended.
Is e-Travel the same thing as a visa?
No. It is a free arrival and departure declaration required of everyone, including Filipino citizens, and it grants you nothing. Your right to enter still comes from your nationality or your visa.
What happens if you overstay by a few days?
You pay 500 PHP for the month started plus the extension fees you owed, usually settled at the airport or at a Bureau office before you fly. Plan the extension instead, since the fine buys you nothing.