Philippines Alien Employment Permit (AEP) 2026: Centralised Processing Guide
Every AEP is now handled by the Bureau of Local Employment at DOLE Central Office — here is what changed in June 2026, and what employers have to do differently
Short answer: since June 2026, DOLE Regional Offices no longer accept, process or issue Alien Employment Permits. All applications, renewals, cancellations and appeals now sit with the Bureau of Local Employment (BLE) at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila, under Administrative Order No. 199, s. 2026 and Department Order No. 248-B, s. 2026. The statutory processing period — 15 working days from payment of the fee — is expressly unchanged, permits remain capped at three years per issuance, and exempt or excluded nationals must now hold a DOLE certificate before they start work.
Verified 12 August 2026 against DOLE sources. This guide is written by the Aniday team that onboards foreign nationals in the Philippines and coordinates AEP and 9(g) filings for clients.
- 8 June 2026 — DOLE issues Administrative Order No. 199, s. 2026: Regional Offices are directed to stop receiving, processing and issuing AEPs immediately, and to transfer all records, pending applications and permit ID stock to the Central Office within 5 calendar days.
- 9 June 2026 — AO 199 takes effect. From this date a regional filing is no longer a valid route.
- 11 June 2026 — DOLE issues Department Order No. 248-B, s. 2026, with immediate effect: the formal amendment substituting the Bureau of Local Employment and its Director for the Regional Offices and Regional Directors throughout the AEP rules.
- Underlying rules — Department Order No. 248, s. 2025 and Department Order No. 248-A, s. 2025 (5 June 2025), as amended by DO 248-B.
What changed in June 2026, and what does it mean in practice?
Short answer: two DOLE instruments, eleven days apart, moved every stage of the AEP from the Regional Offices to the Bureau of Local Employment. AO 199 stopped regional processing on 9 June 2026; DO 248-B then rewrote the rules so the BLE Director exercises every power the Regional Directors used to hold. One filing venue, nationwide.
| Instrument | Date | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative Order No. 199, s. 2026 | Issued 8 Jun 2026 · effective 9 Jun 2026 | Orders Regional Offices to stop accepting, processing and issuing AEPs immediately, and to transfer all records, pending applications and ID stock to the Central Office within 5 calendar days |
| Department Order No. 248-B, s. 2026 | 11 Jun 2026 · immediate effect | Institutionalises the change: every reference to "Regional Office / Regional Director" is replaced by the Bureau of Local Employment and its Director — across receipt, evaluation, approval, issuance, release, adjudication, enforcement, cancellation, revocation, renewal and administration |
| Department Order No. 248, s. 2025 and No. 248-A, s. 2025 | 5 Jun 2025 | The underlying AEP rules that DO 248-B amends — still the substantive framework for eligibility, publication, testing and validity |
Why citing AO 199 alone is incomplete. AO 199 is an operational instruction: it switched the regional counters off. DO 248-B is the legal amendment that gives the Bureau of Local Employment the authority it now exercises. Advisers and trackers that mention only the first instrument leave the impression of a temporary suspension. It is not — the substitution of the BLE for the Regional Offices is written into the rules themselves, and it covers adjudication as well as issuance.
One consequence worth flagging: motions relating to the cancellation or revocation of an AEP now go to the DOLE Legal Service Director within 10 calendar days. Employers who previously escalated within their region no longer have that route.
What happened to applications already pending with a regional office?
Short answer: nothing was lost and nothing has to be filed again. Pending regional applications were transmitted to the Bureau of Local Employment along with the records and permit stock, and they resume at their existing stage with the remaining processing period preserved. No resubmission is required, and no penalty attaches to the transfer.
This matters because the natural reaction to a mid-flight regulatory change is to re-file defensively. Doing that here creates duplicate records, restarts nothing usefully and risks confusing the BLE's queue. If an application was validly lodged with a Regional Office before 9 June 2026, it keeps its place. An application that had already reached evaluation stays at evaluation; one where the fee had been paid keeps the days already elapsed against the statutory period.
What to do instead: keep the original reference details, the proof of filing and the proof of payment together, and follow up with the BLE against those references. If a start date depends on the permit, tell the hiring manager early that the case is in a transferred queue — the outcome is unaffected, but the transition has stretched some timelines.
Where and how do you file an AEP now?
Short answer: with the Bureau of Local Employment at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila — regardless of where in the Philippines the employer or the workplace sits. Labour market testing and the mandatory publication of the vacancy now run centrally on a digital platform rather than region by region.
The practical effect for a multi-site employer is simplification. A company hiring into Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila used to deal with three regional offices, three sets of counter practices and three queues. There is now one venue, one platform and one set of expectations. The trade-off is concentration risk: a single national queue absorbs national volume, which is exactly why transition delays have been reported.
On fees: AEP fees are set by DOLE and must be confirmed with the Bureau of Local Employment before you budget. Figures circulating in secondary sources conflict with one another, and we do not publish an amount we cannot source primarily. What matters procedurally is that the statutory processing clock runs from payment of the fee — so a delay in paying is a delay in issuance.
How does the AEP process run, and how long does it take?
Short answer: file within 10 working days of contract signing, publish the vacancy in a newspaper, pass the Economic Needs Test, and expect a statutory 15 working days from payment of the fee — a period centralisation expressly did not change. Some employers also owe an Understudy Training programme within 60 days of the employment start.
| Step | What happens | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Confirm the permit is actually required | Check the position against the exempt and excluded categories — if it falls in one, the route is a Certificate of Exemption or Exclusion, not an AEP | Before filing |
| 2. File with the BLE | Application lodged with the Bureau of Local Employment, DOLE Central Office, Intramuros, Manila | Within 10 working days of contract signing |
| 3. Publication of the vacancy | Newspaper publication remains mandatory; labour market testing and publication now run centrally on a digital platform | Part of the application cycle |
| 4. Economic Needs Test | DOLE assesses whether a Filipino national is available, willing and competent for the position | Part of the evaluation |
| 5. Payment of the DOLE-set fee | Starts the statutory processing clock — confirm the current schedule with the BLE | Clock starts here |
| 6. Evaluation, approval and issuance by the BLE | Receipt, evaluation, approval, issuance and release all sit with the Bureau of Local Employment and its Director | 15 working days from payment of the fee (statutory — unchanged by centralisation) |
| 7. Understudy Training / Skills Development Program | Required for FIA-registered enterprises enjoying fiscal incentives, public utility and critical infrastructure employers, and SIPP strategic investments | Submitted within 60 days of the start of employment |
| 8. Proceed to the 9(g) visa petition | The issued AEP is a mandatory supporting document for the Bureau of Immigration petition | After the AEP is issued |
Build in a buffer. Fifteen working days is the statutory standard, not a service-level guarantee, and advisers have reported transition delays since the move to central processing. Treat the statutory period as the floor, agree a provisional start date rather than a fixed one, and avoid booking relocation or a family move against the earliest theoretical issuance date.
The 10-working-day filing deadline is the one most often blown. It runs from contract signing, not from the intended start date and not from the candidate's arrival. If a contract is signed while a candidate is still serving notice abroad, the clock is already running.
How long is an AEP valid?
Short answer: a minimum of one year, tied to the duration of the employment contract, and capped at three years per issuance. It is renewable, so longer engagements are covered by successive permits. A widely repeated claim that an AEP can run for five years is wrong — three years is the ceiling for any single permit.
| Contract length | Permit issued |
|---|---|
| Under 1 year | 1 year (the statutory minimum) |
| 2 years | 2 years — matched to the contract |
| 4 or 5 years | 3 years maximum, then renewal |
Plan renewals as a recurring calendar item rather than an exception. Where an assignment is expected to run beyond three years, the contract can still be written for the full term — the permit simply cycles inside it, and the renewal needs to be prepared far enough ahead that the person is never working on an expired permit.
Who is exempt or excluded — and what must they now do first?
Short answer: several categories do not need an AEP, but they are no longer free to simply start working. Exempt and excluded nationals must obtain a DOLE Certificate of Exemption or Certificate of Exclusion before starting work. Exemption is no longer self-executing — this is the change employers miss most often.
| Category | Notes |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic personnel and accredited staff of international organisations | Accreditation is the basis of the treatment |
| Holders of permanent, probationary and temporary resident visas | Status is by visa class, not by role |
| Recognised refugees and stateless persons | Recognition must be in place |
| Members of the governing board with voting rights | Only where they do not intervene in day-to-day management — an executive director who runs operations is outside this category |
| Qualifying intra-corporate transferees | Requires at least one year of prior service with the parent company or affiliate |
| Owners and equity holders per SEC registration | Position must be reflected in the SEC registration |
A board member, an intra-corporate transferee or a resident visa holder who begins working on the assumption that "no permit is needed" is working without the documentation DOLE now requires. The practical rule for 2026: every foreign national starting work in the Philippines needs a DOLE document before day one — either an AEP, a Certificate of Exemption or a Certificate of Exclusion. Decide which one applies at offer stage, not after arrival, and keep the certificate on file with the employment records.
AEP or 9(g) visa — which one do you need?
Short answer: both. They are two separate approvals from two separate agencies. The AEP comes from DOLE and confers the right to hold the job; the 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa comes from the Bureau of Immigration and confers the right to stay in the country for that job. The AEP is a prerequisite and a mandatory supporting document for the 9(g).
| AEP | 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Issuing authority | DOLE — Bureau of Local Employment | Bureau of Immigration |
| What it grants | The right to hold the position — labour-side authorisation | The right to stay in the Philippines for that employment — immigration-side status |
| Sequence | First | Second — the AEP is a mandatory supporting document for the petition |
| Is the other one still needed? | Yes — an AEP alone does not confer the right to stay | Yes — a 9(g) cannot be obtained without the AEP |
The failure mode is treating one approval as covering both. A foreign national holding an AEP but no 9(g) has labour authorisation without the correct immigration status; a person who somehow starts on a visa without an AEP is exposed on the labour side. Sequence the work: AEP first, 9(g) second, and align the candidate's start date with the second one rather than the first.
What are the penalties for working without an AEP?
Short answer: per DOLE rules, a fine of ₱10,000 for every year or fraction of a year of unauthorised employment applies per count, against both the employer and the foreign national, plus a five-year bar on filing AEP applications. Bureau of Immigration exposure sits on top: visa cancellation, blacklisting and deportation.
| Exposure | Reported consequence (per DOLE rules) |
|---|---|
| Fine | ₱10,000 per year or fraction of a year of unauthorised employment, per count |
| Who is liable | Both the employer and the foreign national |
| Filing ban | A five-year bar on AEP applications |
| Immigration side | Bureau of Immigration exposure — visa cancellation, blacklisting, deportation |
Two things make this bite harder than the headline number suggests. The fine is calculated per year or fraction, so a short overlap while a renewal is pending is still a full unit. And the five-year filing bar is a company-level problem, not just a case-level one — it affects every future foreign hire, which is a far more expensive outcome than the fine itself.
How an Employer of Record helps
An AEP is filed by an employer, so a company without a Philippine entity cannot file one at all. Under an Employer of Record arrangement, Aniday's local entity becomes the legal employer, sponsors the AEP with the Bureau of Local Employment, sequences the 9(g) petition behind it, and keeps the renewal calendar — while the person does their day job for you.
The value is mostly in the parts of the process that are easy to get wrong: filing inside the 10-working-day window after contract signing, running publication and the Economic Needs Test correctly, spotting when a role is actually an exclusion case that needs a certificate rather than a permit, submitting the Understudy Training programme within 60 days where it applies, and starting renewals before the three-year ceiling arrives. Payroll, statutory contributions and the 13th-month obligation run on the same entity — see the Philippines employment cost calculator for what the employer side actually costs, and Employer of Record Philippines or PEO Philippines for how the engagement is structured.
Sources
- DOLE Administrative Order No. 199, s. 2026 — issued 8 June 2026, effective 9 June 2026
- DOLE Department Order No. 248-B, s. 2026 — 11 June 2026, immediate effect
- DOLE Department Order No. 248, s. 2025 and Department Order No. 248-A, s. 2025 — 5 June 2025
- Bureau of Local Employment, DOLE Central Office, Intramuros, Manila — current fee schedule and filing practice
- Aniday — Doing Business in the Philippines (country hub)
Philippines AEP — frequently asked questions
Where are AEP applications filed in 2026?
With the Bureau of Local Employment at the DOLE Central Office in Intramuros, Manila. Regional Offices stopped receiving, processing and issuing AEPs on 9 June 2026 under AO 199, and DO 248-B substituted the BLE for the Regional Offices throughout the rules on 11 June 2026.
Do we have to re-file an application that was pending regionally?
No. Pending applications were transferred to the BLE and resume at their existing stage with the remaining processing period preserved. There is no resubmission and no penalty — keep the original filing and payment references and follow up against them.
How long does an AEP take?
The statutory period is 15 working days from payment of the fee, and centralisation expressly did not change it. Advisers have reported transition delays since June 2026, so treat it as a floor and build a buffer into the start date.
How much is the AEP fee?
Fees are set by DOLE and should be confirmed directly with the Bureau of Local Employment. Secondary sources disagree, so we do not publish a figure. Note the timing point: the statutory processing clock starts when the fee is paid.
How long is the permit valid?
Minimum one year, tied to the contract, capped at three years per issuance, and renewable. Longer assignments run on successive permits — a single AEP never covers five years.
Our new hire is an intra-corporate transferee — do we still file something?
Yes. Qualifying transferees with at least a year of prior service with the parent or affiliate fall outside the AEP requirement, but they need a DOLE Certificate of Exemption or Exclusion before starting work. Exemption is no longer self-executing.
Is an AEP enough on its own?
No. The AEP is the labour-side approval from DOLE; the 9(g) pre-arranged employment visa from the Bureau of Immigration is the immigration-side approval. Both are required, and the AEP is a mandatory supporting document for the 9(g) petition.
What happens if someone starts work before the permit is issued?
Per DOLE rules, ₱10,000 for every year or fraction of unauthorised employment, per count, against both employer and employee, plus a five-year bar on AEP filings — and separately, possible visa cancellation, blacklisting and deportation by the Bureau of Immigration.
