Applying for a Philippines e-Visa for your child

A child needs their own e-Visa, even when travelling with both parents. Here is who files the application for a minor, which extra documents to add and when parental consent is required.

Updated: 05.11.2026

One visa per child

The 9(a) Temporary Visitor visa is issued to each traveller individually, whatever their age. Every child needs a passport of their own and a separate application on evisa.gov.ph. The $65 embassy fee is charged per application, so a family of three pays it three times.

The procedure itself is almost identical to an adult's. What changes is a handful of extra papers proving the family relationship and parental consent, plus the fact that the parents' finances stand in for the child's.

Who submits the application

The e-Visa portal only allows applying on someone else's behalf if you are a family member, and parents filing for minor children are the typical case. The form has a dedicated block for this: your relationship to the applicant, the reason ("minor") and a document proving the relationship. A birth certificate is the simplest choice.

The personal details section also asks for the names of both parents, and for a child these are checked against the certificate. Two of the security questions concern age: whether the applicant is under 18 and whether a child under 15 is travelling without parents. Answer exactly as the documents state — a mismatch is a reason to return the file.

Documents for a child

Start from the general document checklist and adjust it for a minor:

• The child's passport — biometric, valid for at least 6 months after the return date. Passport type in the form: ORDINARY.
• ICAO-standard photo — the same rules as for adults: plain light background, neutral expression, nothing else in the frame.
• Birth certificate — proof of relationship with the parent filing the application.
• Proof of funds — a child has no bank statement, so use the sponsor option: a guarantee letter from the parents together with their own statement. The portal's requirements explicitly allow this.
• Flight and accommodation bookings — for the whole family, with the child listed by name.
• Cover letter — written by the parents: purpose and dates of the trip, who is travelling and who pays.

When parental consent is needed

The official 9(a) document list requires permission from a parent or guardian when a minor travels without their parents — with grandparents, an aunt or a school group. If the child flies with only one parent, we recommend adding the other parent's consent anyway: it may not be requested, but a complete file is the best protection against a follow-up request.

Prepare the consent with an English translation and upload it with the rest of the documents from the start. A request for additional papers sends the application back for resubmission and costs several days.

Timeline for a family

1. Submit all family members' applications on the same day so the statuses move together and the decisions arrive around the same time.
2. Each application gets its own $65 invoice, payable by bank transfer to the embassy within 48 hours. A parent can be the payer for a child.
3. A single-entry visa takes 3–12 working days from the fee payment. Apply at least a month before departure.
4. Each e-Visa arrives by email separately — save and print all of them.
5. Register everyone, including the child, on eTravel within 72 hours before arrival.

Common mistakes

• trying to add a child to a parent's application — the portal doesn't work that way;
• a child's photo with a toy, a shadow across the face or a tilted head;
• no birth certificate uploaded even though a parent is filing;
• missing consent from the other parent when travelling with just one;
• a child's passport that expires less than 6 months after the trip.

How we can help

With the Consultation + documents plan ($49 per applicant) we build a checklist for your family, provide templates for the guarantee and cover letters, and check the child's photo and form before submission. With Full service ($99 per applicant) we fill in the forms for you, handle embassy requests and register eTravel for the whole family. See the visa cost guide for the full price breakdown.