Choosing a Student Visa Agent in the Philippines: What a 9F Agent Can and Cannot Do

Draw the school line first

School side, which cannot be delegated: the school must be BI-accredited — the Charter's transaction for school representative IDs lists an endorsement letter from a BI-accredited school as the first requirement and limits eligibility to school representatives of BI-accredited schools; the registrar-signed notice of acceptance stating the semester and the months it covers; the registrar-signed endorsement letter to the Commissioner; and the application letter co-signed by the authorised school liaison officer on letterhead with a dry seal.

Applicant side, which can be delegated: assembling the passport bio-page and latest admission record, arranging the medical and drug test certificate from a Level III hospital, forms, document sequencing, and the filing and release steps a representative may perform under current rules. See 9F versus SSP.

Nine out of ten stalled 9F files are stuck on the school side, and no fee fixes that. Talk to YIXING about your case →

Four checks you can run, plus two specific to 9F

1. A company registration you can look up.
2. An address you can walk into.
3. An official receipt in the company's name.
4. Contract party, receipt party and bank account all matching, on a corporate account.

Then two more: ask for their BI accreditation number, which the Charter names in its supplementary requirements; and ask how they verify the school's accreditation status and which liaison officer they work with. A specific answer means they have done this before.

How student visa cost breaks down

1. Government fees — published, varying by whether you file a conversion or an extension, whether an express lane is used, and whether alien registration matters arise at the same time.
2. School-side costs — tuition, registration and document fees, paid to the school. A request to route tuition through an agent's personal account is a stop sign.
3. Third-party costs — medical and drug test at a Level III hospital, notarisation, translation, and authentication of academic records where needed.
4. Service fee — what the agent earns.

Ask for an itemised quote and compare three of them line by line. See how agency fees break down.

Three red flags specific to student visas

1. Do not worry about the school, we handle everything. This contradicts the published rules — the endorsement is signed by the registrar and the application letter co-signed by the liaison officer on sealed letterhead.
2. Just enrol nominally, you do not have to study. Enrolment is the foundation of the status; withdrawing or taking leave moves the status with it. See withdrawing from study on a 9F.
3. Any clinic will do for the medical. The Charter specifies a Level III hospital.

Plus the two general red flags: guaranteed approval, which no one can offer, and payment to a personal account. See what to do after a refusal.

No recommendation list — run these four steps

Verify the entity; verify the premises; verify the paperwork, with tuition going to the school directly; and verify the school line — how they confirm accreditation, which liaison officer, when the endorsement and acceptance notice will issue, and which steps need you in person. The fourth is the watershed for student visas.

YIXING is a Chinese-language consultancy registered in Makati, Philippines, holding SEC registration CS202009551, BI Accreditation No. CA-202624381-1 (valid to 2027-06-30), DOLE accreditation and PRA accreditation; we are not affiliated with any government agency and promise no outcome. See YIXING visa and HR services. General information only, not legal advice.