Field notes.Wire it right the first time

The most expensive SRRV mistakes are wire mistakes. The deposit is your money, and it stays your money, held at a PRA-accredited bank in your name and returned on visa cancellation per PRA rules. But it only counts if it arrives the right way.

The rule: the visa deposit must arrive as an inward remittance from a bank abroad. A domestic transfer inside the Philippines does not count, no matter how the money originally got there.

The five steps, in order

First, request PRA’s Letter of Introduction by emailing srrvwalkin@pra.gov.ph with your chosen bank and branch, your SRRV option and deposit amount, and your passport bio page. Second, open the account: Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) takes no letter; the accredited private banks require one. Third, send the deposit from your bank abroad. Fourth, put the exact purpose line on the wire: “SRRV deposit of [full passport name]”, plus date of birth, passport number. Fifth, collect the bank certificate or proof of inward remittance for your PRA file.

The purpose line is not decoration. It is how the bank and PRA connect your money to your application, and a wire without it is a problem you then spend weeks unwinding.

Sequence beats speed

Wiring before the Letter of Introduction, or to a branch that is not on the accredited list, is the classic unforced error. The money move sits as step three of seven in our process for a reason: the account exists, the purpose line is drafted, and only then does anything leave your bank. Measure twice; wire once.