Warning SRRV: opportunists and overcharging

better to come here in the philippines and make it by your self

I just deal directly with the PRA office in the Best Western Hotel on McArthur Blvd. in Angeles. I also have had to resort to doing a LOT of my own research in an attempt to keep the process from stalling out. I've visited the PRA.gov website and the BI websites more times than I care to admit.

I have found the PRA staff at their Cebu office very pleasant and easy to deal with. I obtained my original SRRV without external help and without problem. With some guidance from the PRA officer, the full application process was completed in one day. This included deposit payment, which was made by on-line transfer, while at the office, and medical, which was done at a clinic that was just a short walk from the office.

Renewal of my card has also been without too many problems. Last year took a long time because of the COVID restrictions but this year was very fast (for the Philippines). All it takes to renew is an email to the PRA office and a cash payment for the fee plus postage to the PRA Landbank account. I've not tried a renewal from outside the Philippines.

Obtaining a travel pass and EED is not practical for me at the moment. My travel needs are related to business and it's impossible to plan with such long and uncertain lead times for the EED. Fingers crossed that this requirement will be phased out in the not too distant future, or at least changed to affect only the intended "target group".

I had my card renewed and sent to europe for a fraction of the PHP20k, that one of the companies is now asking.

mikebrant1973 wrote:

better to come here in the philippines and make it by your self

Not if not being allowed to get in without   

For what its worth, I wished I had started the EED process month ago as I now feel like it is part of a resetting of SRRVs, I think once its done then you have 3months to use it and if NOT needed then so what...as mentioned its free and actually pretty easy to apply so long as you now urgent on getting it!

I agree on the advice about how to work with PRA, etc., I hired a firm to do mine 7 years ago and it become clear they didn't entirely know what they were doing so they would tell me I only needed to do x or would take only so long and were wrong...so trying to please me vs dealing with reality.  I figured out that they had only done one before me so they acted like they were experts but the minute my situation diverged at all they were hapless. Fact the PRA is set up the way it is, likley there is not much of a market for independent service providers


Very helpful on the ID renewal items, thanks - I had been wondering about being away but needing to renew - now I know.

Just to clarify,

I am not implying that all marketers are dishonest or unprofessional. On the contrary, there are a few excellent ones who do not charge.

My original post was just an advice to check the fees beforehand.