The vocabulary.SRRV glossary

The Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage, a Bureau of Immigration residency route based on marriage to a Philippine citizen.

The 13A is a separate residency path from the SRRV, granted by the Bureau of Immigration rather than PRA, on the basis of a valid marriage to a Philippine citizen. It carries no bank deposit, but it does carry annual obligations the SRRV waives: a Bureau of Immigration annual report each year and a valid ACR I-Card. It begins with a one-year probationary stage before permanent status. Married to a Filipino citizen and weighing both, the honest comparison is which obligations you would rather carry.

A bank on PRA’s approved list that may hold the SRRV deposit; the deposit must sit at one of these.

An accredited bank is one PRA has approved to hold the SRRV deposit. The government option is Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and several private banks are accredited at specific branches. The deposit only counts if it lands at an accredited bank, in your name, by inward remittance. The accredited list and the exact branches change over time, so confirm the current list against the official source before you open an account or send a wire.

The Bureau of Immigration registration card that the SRRV exempts you from, but which the 13A requires.

The ACR I-Card is the Alien Certificate of Registration identity card the Bureau of Immigration issues to foreign nationals. One of the SRRV benefits PRA publishes is exemption from the Bureau of Immigration annual reporting and the ACR I-Card. The 13A route does not share that exemption; it requires a valid ACR I-Card and an annual report each year. The difference in ongoing obligations is one of the honest distinctions between the two residency paths.

A standardized international certification that authenticates a public document for use abroad without further legalization.

An apostille is a certificate, under the Hague Apostille Convention, that authenticates a public document so a foreign authority will accept it. SRRV documents issued outside the Philippines must be in English or translated, and apostilled. US documents apostille through two channels: state-issued papers through that state’s Secretary of State, federal papers through the US Department of State. The apostille does not reset a validity window; a medical certificate good for 6 months is still measured from issuance, so it spends a window rather than restarting it.

The Philippine Embassy or Consulate certification used in place of an apostille where the apostille process does not apply.

Authentication is the predecessor to apostille and the fallback where apostille does not apply: a Philippine Embassy or Consulate certifies the document directly. Most US documents now use the apostille route, but the rule PRA states covers both, so the term still appears on checklists. The practical point is the same in either case, that a foreign-issued document must be certified before PRA will accept it. The channel differs by document and by country; the requirement does not.

The Philippine agency, distinct from PRA, that handles general visas, admission, and the endorsement step in an SRRV filing.

The Bureau of Immigration, often abbreviated BI, is the agency that controls entry, general visas, and the ACR I-Card. It is separate from PRA. An SRRV filing routes through a Bureau of Immigration clearance and endorsement, which is why PRA’s own published Head-Office turn-around of 10 working days excludes Bureau of Immigration time. A realistic end-to-end estimate is 30 to 45 working days. The 13A visa is granted by the Bureau of Immigration, not PRA.

Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, which restores military retired pay that would otherwise be offset by VA compensation.

CRDP, Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay, is a DFAS program that lets eligible retirees receive both military retired pay and VA disability compensation without the usual offset between them. It matters here only as part of understanding what your monthly income actually is and whether it is lifetime income, which is the question the Courtesy gate asks. It is general education, not benefits advice; the VA and DFAS determine eligibility under their own rules. Confirm your own pay composition with DFAS before relying on it for planning.

Combat-Related Special Compensation, a separate tax-free payment for retirees with combat-related disabilities.

CRSC, Combat-Related Special Compensation, is a DFAS payment for eligible retirees whose disabilities are combat-related, paid separately from retired pay. Like CRDP, it bears on the SRRV only through the income question: what you receive each month and whether it is lifetime income the Courtesy gate recognizes. The VA and DFAS govern CRSC eligibility under their own rules. Treat this as general education, and confirm your pay composition with DFAS rather than assuming how a given component is treated.

The operative Courtesy test: a qualifying lifetime pension you are receiving now, not a job title or a future entitlement.

The Courtesy military track turns on current receipt of a qualifying lifetime pension, not retired status. The working figure is at least $1,000 per month, currently being received. DFAS retired pay counts; VA disability compensation counts. A retirement letter for a pension that starts later does not count yet, no matter the title on the paperwork. It cuts both ways: a veteran drawing that much in VA compensation may fit Courtesy without ever having been on the retired rolls, while a 20-year retiree whose pension begins at 60 does not fit until the payments begin. PRA determines qualification case by case, on the documents; others fit SRRV Classic.

The Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, the service record PRA works from on the Courtesy military track.

The DD-214 is the US military discharge document that records your service and character of separation. On the Courtesy military track PRA works from the DD-214 with an honorable discharge as the service proof; it does not request retirement orders as a separate document class. The DD-214 establishes service, but it does not establish the pension on its own. The currently-received pension is the gate; the DD-214 is the proof that you served. Plan to apostille it for the filing.

The deposit is your money, held in your name and returned on visa cancellation; the fees are paid to PRA and not refundable.

Two kinds of money move in an SRRV application, and they never blend. The visa deposit is yours, held at an accredited bank in your name and returned on visa cancellation per PRA rules. The fees are not yours back: the $1,500 PRA processing fee is non-refundable if you discontinue, each dependent pays a $300 application fee, and the annual fee runs $100 on Courtesy or $360 on Classic for the principal plus two dependents. Keeping the two straight is the difference between a budget and a surprise.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which pays US military retired pay and issues the Retiree Account Statement.

DFAS is the US Department of Defense agency that disburses military retired pay and generates the Retiree Account Statement that documents it. For a Courtesy applicant proving a currently-received pension, DFAS retired pay is one of the qualifying income streams, and the DFAS statement is one of the cleanest documents to prove it. DFAS handles military retired pay; VA handles disability compensation. Both can count toward the gate.

US reporting regimes for foreign financial accounts and assets that continue to apply to US persons living in the Philippines.

FBAR (the FinCEN Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) and FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) are US reporting regimes for foreign financial accounts and assets. They are relevant because the SRRV deposit and any Philippine bank accounts you open are foreign accounts in their eyes, and US persons report regardless of residence. Philippine exemptions do not change US tax obligations; US citizens file with the IRS regardless of where they live. This is general education, not tax or legal advice; consult a qualified tax advisor about your specific situation.

The VA Foreign Medical Program, which can reimburse care abroad for VA-rated, service-connected conditions.

The Foreign Medical Program, or FMP, is the VA program that can cover care abroad for VA-rated, service-connected conditions, on a reimbursement model. Every word is load-bearing: VA-rated, service-connected, reimbursement. Under FMP you generally pay the Philippine provider, then claim it back with documentation, so it is a cash-flow plan as much as a benefit. It is one layer of a healthcare stack, not the whole roof; VA, TRICARE, and PhilHealth programs are governed by their own rules and eligibility, and GoSRRV does not administer or guarantee any of them.

A transfer of the SRRV deposit from a bank abroad into the Philippines, the only path PRA accepts for the deposit.

An inward remittance is money wired into the Philippines from a bank abroad. The SRRV deposit must arrive this way; a domestic transfer inside the Philippines does not count, no matter how the money first got into the country. The wire must carry the exact purpose line, “SRRV deposit of [full passport name]”, plus date of birth, passport number, which is how the bank and PRA connect your money to your application. Wiring before the Letter of Introduction, or to a branch not on the accredited list, is the classic unforced error.

The PRA letter an accredited private bank requires before it will open the SRRV deposit account.

The Letter of Introduction is PRA’s letter to the accredited bank, naming you and your chosen SRRV option, that the accredited private banks require before opening the deposit account. You request it by emailing srrvwalkin@pra.gov.ph with your chosen bank and branch, your SRRV option and deposit amount, and your passport bio page. Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) takes no letter; the private banks do. Requesting the letter is step one of the deposit sequence, before any money leaves your bank abroad.

A health certificate required for the SRRV, valid for a fixed window from the date it is issued.

The medical certificate is the health document the SRRV requires, completed on the PRA form for the in-country medical step. It is valid for 6 months from issuance, and the window runs from the issue date. Because it expires, it is one of the last documents gathered, closest to filing. A foreign-issued certificate must be apostilled or authenticated; the in-country PRA medical is completed once you are present.

A National Bureau of Investigation background clearance required when an applicant has stayed in the Philippines past a set window before filing.

The NBI clearance is a criminal-background clearance from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation. It joins the SRRV checklist when an applicant has been in the Philippines longer than 90 days before filing, the trigger PRA applies. A short scouting trip generally does not trip it; a long stay before filing does. Plan extended scouting against the calendar so a long pre-filing stay does not add a step you did not budget for.

On SRRV Classic, proving a qualifying lifetime pension lowers the required deposit; without that proof, the deposit is larger.

On SRRV Classic the deposit depends on whether you can prove a qualifying lifetime pension. Lifetime income of $800 per month single or $1,000 with dependents supports the pensioner deposits of $15,000 at 50 and older or $25,000 at 40 to 49. Without that proof the deposits are $30,000 and $50,000. The deposit is refundable either way; pension proof simply lowers how much you park.

The Philippine national health insurance program, which the SRRV includes access to at a special rate.

PhilHealth is the Philippine national health insurance program, and access at a special rate is one of the SRRV benefits PRA publishes. It is real coverage at real hospitals, and enrolling is an early arrival task. Used correctly it is a floor, not a ceiling: it keeps routine and inpatient costs from falling through, but it does not replace the veteran layers above it. VA, TRICARE, and PhilHealth programs are governed by their own rules and eligibility, and GoSRRV does not administer or guarantee any of them.

A background clearance from your home jurisdiction, valid for a fixed window, required in the SRRV document set.

A police clearance is a criminal-background certificate from your home jurisdiction, part of the SRRV document set. It is valid for 6 months from issuance, and the clock runs from the issue date, not the apostille date. Because it expires, it is gathered close to the filing trip, not early. A state-issued clearance apostilles through that state’s Secretary of State; a federal-level clearance goes through the US Department of State.

The Philippine Retirement Authority, the government agency that administers the SRRV program.

The PRA is the Philippine government agency that runs the SRRV program, sets the deposits and fees, holds your application, and issues the visa. It is not the Bureau of Immigration, which is a separate agency that handles general visas and admission. PRA publishes the program rules and accredits the banks that hold the deposit and the marketers who may assist applicants. No government requires you to use an agent to apply.

The principal is the qualifying applicant; dependents are the spouse and qualifying children who join the visa under the principal.

The principal is the person who qualifies for and holds the SRRV; dependents are the family members who join under that principal. A legal spouse and unmarried children under 21 can be included, and the deposit certificate covers the principal plus 2 dependents. Each dependent beyond two requires an additional visa deposit of $15,000, waived for former Filipinos, and each joining dependent pays a $300 application fee. The principal’s qualification, not the dependent’s, is what the route turns on.

The DFAS statement of your military retired pay, a practical document for proving lifetime pension income to PRA.

The Retiree Account Statement, or RAS, is the DFAS document that itemizes your military retired pay. Together with a VA benefit verification letter, it is the practical starting document for proving a currently-received lifetime pension to PRA. RAS letters are dated the day they are generated, so order them when the apostille run starts, not months ahead, since the figures and dates need to be current at filing. The RAS proves the income; the DD-214 proves the service.

The Special Resident Retiree’s Visa, the Philippine permanent-residency visa for foreign retirees aged 40 and up.

The SRRV is the Philippine Retirement Authority’s permanent-residency visa for foreign retirees and former Filipino citizens. Approved once, it grants indefinite stay and multiple-entry travel, anchored by a refundable bank deposit held in your name. Eligibility starts at age 40, and the visa is issued through one of two routes, Courtesy or Classic. It is not a tourist visa you renew and not a points system you outgrow.

The general SRRV route for pensioners and non-pensioners aged 40 and up, set by a larger refundable deposit.

SRRV Classic is the standard route, open to pensioners and non-pensioners alike from age 40. Lifetime income of $800 per month single or $1,000 with dependents supports the pensioner deposits of $15,000 at 50 and older or $25,000 at 40 to 49. Without pension proof, the deposits are $30,000 and $50,000. When a veteran does not meet the Courtesy gate, Classic still works, and honestly.

The special-category SRRV route, which for US veterans turns on a currently-received lifetime pension rather than a job title.

SRRV Courtesy is the route for special categories: retired diplomats, officers of recognized international organizations, high achievers, and retired military service members from countries with recognized bilateral relations with the Philippines. For US veterans the working test is a DD-214 with honorable discharge plus a lifetime pension of at least $1,000 per month, currently being received. The deposit is $1,500 at age 50 and older and $3,000 for a pensioner aged 40 to 49. PRA determines qualification case by case, on the documents.

The TRICARE coverage that pays as primary overseas for TRICARE-covered services, since Medicare does not pay abroad.

TRICARE For Life is the TRICARE coverage for those who are Medicare-eligible. Medicare itself does not pay for care outside the United States, so overseas TRICARE For Life pays as primary for TRICARE-covered services rather than wrapping around Medicare as it does stateside. That distinction matters for anyone planning healthcare in the Philippines on the assumption that Medicare follows them; it does not. VA, TRICARE, and PhilHealth programs are governed by their own rules and eligibility, and GoSRRV does not administer or guarantee any of them.

The overseas TRICARE option available to eligible military retirees and family members living abroad.

TRICARE Select Overseas is the overseas form of TRICARE Select, available to eligible military retirees and family members living outside the United States, including in the Philippines. It follows TRICARE’s own rules and provider arrangements, which differ from stateside coverage. It is distinct from TRICARE For Life, which layers with Medicare for those who are Medicare-eligible. VA, TRICARE, and PhilHealth programs are governed by their own rules and eligibility, and GoSRRV does not administer or guarantee any of them.