The residence routes we hold for Philippines, each requirement as its rule states it, and what a month costs in its cities. This page assesses no one.
This page describes the destination for nobody in particular. Answer a few questions and each requirement is set against your own answers, with a monthly budget for your household. Your answers stay in the address bar of your browser; nothing is stored.
English is an official language; easy daily communication.
Low cost of living; retirement (SRRV) routes with modest thresholds.
Warm climate, islands, friendly culture.
Large, young, English-speaking workforce for services.
Cebu and Dumaguete are liveable and far cheaper than Manila.
Cons
Typhoons, earthquakes and flooding.
Infrastructure, traffic and public services lag; power and internet outages outside Manila and Cebu.
Foreign ownership limits (land, many sectors at 40%).
Public healthcare is weak; private care in cities is affordable but variable.
Bureaucracy and informal practices; security concerns in some regions.
Emigrator’s assessment, 6 October 2026. Where a point names a figure, the sourced data above governs.
Routes we hold for Philippines
What each rule states, as we encoded it from the source. A money threshold that grows with the size of the household is shown for the reference household named under the costs.
Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV)
Draft — not checked by us yet
We built these rules from the country’s own sources and have not finished checking them line by line.
· within the limit
Requirement
Rule says
Type
At least 40 years old on the day you move
At least years
Mandatory
What the authority states and we cannot test
Quoted in the authority’s own words rather than summarised. No rule of ours tests these.
Visa Deposit — 50 years old and above / 40-49 years old. Pensioner USD 15,000.00 / USD 25,000.00. Non-Pensioner USD 30,000.00 / USD 50,000.00
Stated by Philippine Retirement Authority — SRRVisa: options, qualified applicants and basic requirements
Proof of lifetime pension of at least USD 800.00/month for single applicants and USD 1,000.00/month for applicants with dependents
Stated by Philippine Retirement Authority — SRRVisa: options, qualified applicants and basic requirements
An SRRV Option for the Principal retirees under special categories such as retired diplomats, officers of international organizations recognized by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, retired military service members from countries with recognized bilateral relations with the Philippines, and high achievers in academic, business, arts, culture, music, sports, including philanthropists.
Stated by Philippine Retirement Authority — SRRVisa: options, qualified applicants and basic requirements
Medical Certificate (issued within 6 months before submission); Police Clearance from the country of origin or residence for the last 6 months; Bureau of Immigration Clearance Certificate (BICC); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance
Stated by Philippine Retirement Authority — SRRVisa: options, qualified applicants and basic requirements
A month here, for a reference household
Reference household: two adults aged 38 and 37, a one-bedroom home, no children.
Residence fees and health cover are those of Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV). The low, middle and high figures are the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles where a publisher states them; each line says who published it.
illustrative Money figures on this page are illustrative unless the figure names its publisher. The illustrative ones are arranged so the shape is right — a larger flat costs more than a smaller one, and the expensive cities are the expensive ones — and they are accurate in nothing. Do not plan on them.
City
P25
P50
P75
Cebu CityThis total does not include Building or service charge, Statutory levies and licences, Residence permit renewals and Domestic help, which nobody publishes for this city. It is the sum of what we hold, not of what the household will pay.
€969
€1,301
€1,633
DumagueteThis total does not include Building or service charge, Statutory levies and licences, Residence permit renewals and Domestic help, which nobody publishes for this city. It is the sum of what we hold, not of what the household will pay.
Each cell: average daily high, monthly mean, average daily low, in °C. These are averages of daily values over 2001–2020, not records — the hottest day is higher and is not shown.
Each cell: average daily high, monthly mean, average daily low, in °C. These are averages of daily values over 2001–2020, not records — the hottest day is higher and is not shown.
How this country is governed
World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators, 2024, on a 0–100 scale the Bank publishes itself. They describe the country, not any city in it.
Political stability and absence of violence
53the World Bank governance score for political stability
Rule of law
47the World Bank governance score for rule of law
Control of corruption
36the World Bank governance score for control of corruption
Rule set 1.58.0-2026-10-11 · read on 26 October 2026. Every figure on this page was computed by the engine from versioned rule files. No language model produced any number here, and translation happens only after the calculation.
