31 October 2026 · Bureau of Immigration, Republic of the Philippines

The annual report and the ACR I-Card run on different clocks

The Bureau of Immigration charges ₱310 for the annual report and a separate US$50 plus ₱500 for the ACR I-Card. The two are paid at the same counters and recorded against the same card, but they run on different clocks, and a card that is current does not mean the report was filed.

Two transactions that share one card

The annual report is a calendar obligation. ₱310, filed once a year, in a window that closes on 1 March. The ACR I-Card is a document with its own expiry, and its issuance or renewal is a separate payment: US$50 plus ₱500 for a one-year card. Paying one does not discharge the other.

Most of the confusion comes from the paperwork. Both transactions are recorded against the same card number, both sit in the same receipt trail, and both are handled at the same windows. The Bureau treats them as two services with two published fee tables, and the second table is not a renewal of the first.

What the annual report costs

A ₱300 annual report fee plus a ₱10 legal research fee, ₱310 in total, per person, per year. That is the whole charge when the report is filed inside the period.

The report is open to registered aliens and ACR I-Card holders, with one exclusion the Bureau states plainly: holders of a Temporary Visitor's Visa or a Tourist Visa do not report. SRRV holders carry a PRA card instead of an ACR I-Card, and the annual report is not their transaction.

The 2 November cut-off decides who pays

The Bureau assesses the annual report fee once the arrival of the applicant falls on or before 2 November of the preceding year. For the report due in the first quarter of 2027, that date is 2 November 2026. An arrival on or before it puts the person inside the cycle whatever the length of the stay afterwards. An arrival after it does not.

The filing itself is short. Register on the Bureau's annual report online filing system and keep the reference number. Attend a participating office with the original ACR I-Card, or the paper ACR, and the original passport. The Bureau asks for originals and notes that previous official receipts may be brought for dispute purposes. The office issues an Order of Payment Slip, ₱310 is paid at the counter, and the official receipt is released.

What the card costs, and when it is charged

US$50 plus ₱500 additional for a one-year card, and US$100 or US$150 for two or three years. The card is not applied for on its own: the Bureau's issuance page states that the application must be submitted together with the application for the visa. The image and fingerprint capture follows approval, at the Alien Registration Division counter, with the passport in hand.

This is why the renewal and the report never collide on a calendar. The card expires on the date printed on it, tied to the visa it was issued with. The report expires on 1 March, every year, for everybody. An immigrant visa that does not expire the way a 9G does still reports annually. A card renewed in September still reports the following January.

If the report is missed

The fine is ₱200 per month of delay, reckoned from 2 March, capped at ₱2,000 per year. On top of it the Bureau charges a Motion of Reconsideration fee of ₱1,510 under Operations Order No. 2025-007. The cap applies to the monthly fine, not to the motion fee, so a report settled in December costs ₱2,000 plus ₱1,510 on top of the ₱310.

The receipt is worth keeping. It is asked for at visa renewal, at exit clearance, and by some employers and banks. Losing it does not void the filing, but it lengthens every transaction that follows it.

What to check before January

• The date of arrival in the Philippines, against 2 November 2026.
• The expiry printed on the ACR I-Card, which is a different date.
• Whether the last annual report receipt is on file, in original.
• Whether the passport in hand is the current one, since the Bureau asks for the original.

Both Bureau pages carry the same footnote: fees updated as of 6 March 2014 and subject to change without prior notice. Confirm the amount at the counter before paying.