Philippines 9G Visa Replacement: Lost Passport, Lost ACR I-Card or an Expired Visa, and What Each Requires

First, separate the three situations people call '9G replacement'

Bottom line: work out whether you lost the passport, the card or the validity of the visa itself, because each goes to a different BI desk with different papers.

1. Passport lost, stolen or renewed. A 9G visa is granted by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Board of Commissioners and recorded in BI files, so it does not vanish with the passport. But the visa implementation stamp and arrival stamps were in the old passport, and the new one is blank. Two BI services apply: the Immigration Regulation Division's Transfer of Admission Stamp, which moves the admission status in the latest arrival stamp of the lost or cancelled passport to the new one; and the Implementation Unit's Re-stamping of Visa, which puts the still-valid visa into the new passport. Both require the new passport first; Chinese citizens deal with their embassy or consulates, as covered in section four.
2. ACR I-Card lost or damaged. This is a card re-issue, not a new visa. You apply with an affidavit of loss and a police report, and your biometrics are captured again after filing.
3. 9G expired, cancelled or tied to an employer situation that has changed. None of this is replacement. Depending on the case, you renew late, downgrade, convert or apply afresh; see section six.

A rarer case makes people think their visa has disappeared: the 9G was approved but not yet implemented when they left the country. The Charter's Revalidation of Visas entry, citing Memorandum Order No. AFF-06-015, says such approved but unimplemented visas may be revalidated if the request is filed within fifteen working days of arrival; a late request needs notarised motion for reconsideration documents and an affidavit of explanation. See the 2026 Citizen's Charter (PDF).

These situations often arrive together: a wallet is stolen with the passport and card inside, and the visa is due for renewal soon. When that happens, settle the order of steps before visiting several windows at once. For the general new-passport case, not limited to 9G, see transferring a visa to a new passport; if your passport is simply full, see what to do when passport pages run out.

One habit helps in all three situations: keep scans of your passport bio page, your 9G implementation page, your latest arrival stamp, both sides of your I-Card and the BI order that granted the visa. Most of the replacement steps below ask for copies of exactly these, and they are far easier to produce from a folder than to reconstruct after a loss.

Lost passport: transfer of admission stamp and re-stamping of visa

Bottom line: once you have a new passport, the BI needs to do two things, transfer the admission stamp and re-stamp the visa; without both, your status in the new passport is incomplete. The 2026 Citizen's Charter describes them as follows.

1. Transfer of Admission Stamp from Old / Lost / Cancelled Passport. Handled by the Immigration Regulation Division (the Charter gives Room 306 at the main office; follow on-site directions) and open to all foreign nationals with a new passport, it transfers the admission status in the latest arrival stamp of the lost or cancelled passport to the new one. The checklist includes:

• BI Form IRD01.QF.002, which lists the detailed requirements and is available on the BI website and at the Public Information and Assistance Unit;
• a Certificate of Travel from the BI Certification and Clearance Section;
• a passenger manifest or airline certification from the BI Records Section;
• the original old passport, if available, and the new passport; where the old one was lost, the original new passport or travel document.

2. Re-stamping of Visa. Handled by the Implementation Unit. The Charter explains that a visa is usually a stamp endorsed in the passport, so where the visa validity in the old passport runs beyond the passport's own validity, the valid visa must be re-stamped into the new passport. It is open to foreign nationals with valid visas, with extension applications not yet fully implemented, or with lost or damaged passports. The checklist includes:

• a letter request to the Head of the Board of Commissioners Implementation Unit bearing a "No Derogatory Records" stamp, which the Charter says is obtained at Window 23 of the Certification and Clearance Section;
• a certified true copy of the Board order granting the visa, or a certification, from the Records Section in Room 314;
• copies of the old and new passport bio pages and of the latest visa stamp in the old passport;
• a copy of the latest arrival stamp in the new passport, or a summary of arrival stamps from Window 22 of the Immigration Regulation Division if the new passport has none;
• a police report and/or affidavit of loss where the old passport was lost or stolen, plus supporting documents for any change in name, nationality or date of birth.

Under the Charter, filings are received at Implementation Unit Window 36 (applicants) or Window 37 (liaison officers). The Charter gives a standard processing time counted in working days and a same-day release option for complete filings submitted before 1:00 pm with a stated reason, such as a flight ticket; actual timing and fees follow the BI's current practice. Keep copies of your 9G order and visa stamp now, because tracking them down after a loss is slow, and make sure the name spelling in the new passport matches BI records. For replacing the passport itself, see a lost Chinese passport in the Philippines.

Lost your passport and unsure whether to replace it, transfer your admission stamp or re-stamp your visa first? Let Yixing sequence the passport replacement and the BI steps for you →

Lost ACR I-Card: re-issue with an affidavit of loss and a police report

Bottom line: a lost I-Card is a card re-issue built on two documents, a notarised affidavit of loss and a police report, followed by fresh fingerprinting. Across BI offices, the I-Card re-issuance entries in the 2026 Citizen's Charter list essentially the same situational requirements for a lost card:

• an Affidavit of Loss, notarised; the Charter notes that notary services are available outside the BI;
• a Police Report, which the Charter says must be filed at the nearest police station where you lost the card, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
• the application form (the main office entries cite BI Form 2015-08-002) and a copy of your passport bio page;
• biometric capture after filing, which the main office entries place in Room 214 on the second floor; the Biometrics Section's entry for I-Card re-issuance lists applicants whose cards were lost or stolen as its first category.

Where do 9G holders file? The Charter entry for ACR I-Card issuance, re-issuance and renewal at district offices such as Baguio expressly lists holders of 9G (working or missionary) visas. At the Manila main office, the Registration Section's re-issuance entries are divided by visa category. Check the BI's current guidance on which window to use and whether an appointment is needed.

Two connections matter:

1. If the passport went missing too, deal with the passport first. The re-issue asks for a passport bio page, and the passport number needs to match BI records. The Charter groups re-issuance and amendment of entries under one I-Card service, so where your card details also need updating, ask the window whether both can be handled together.
2. Do not book a flight while the card is pending. The ECC-B and special return certificate for a temporary trip require a copy of the I-Card, front and back, so a missing card stalls that step; see section five.

A few practical points also save time. Make the police report and the affidavit say the same thing about when and where the card was lost, because inconsistencies invite questions. Keep more than one original of each, since other institutions such as your bank may ask for them too. And once the new card arrives, store a scan of both sides alongside your passport scans.

How to draft the affidavit, what to do if you discover the loss while abroad, and how to avoid losing the card again are covered in our lost ACR I-Card guide; renewals and common card problems are in ACR I-Card common problems.

The order that avoids rework: passport first, then the BI, then the card

Bottom line: the passport underpins everything else, so the least wasteful order is police report, new passport, BI stamp transfer and re-stamping, card re-issue or update, and only then travel paperwork.

1. Report and swear. If the passport and card were lost or stolen, report it at the police station nearest to where it happened, then execute a notarised affidavit of loss. Re-stamping (where the old passport was lost) and the I-Card re-issue both use these, so keep several originals. For what to do right after a theft, see if you are robbed in the Philippines.
2. Get a new passport or travel document. Chinese citizens apply to the Chinese Embassy or consulates in the Philippines; the method, documents and timing are as published in the embassy's consular services section. Someone going home for good may be issued a travel document, but someone who will keep working here needs a full passport that can carry the re-stamped visa. The difference is explained in Chinese travel documents in the Philippines.
3. At the BI, transfer the admission stamp and re-stamp the visa. The two services share documents such as passport bio pages and arrival records, so prepare them together. The certified copy of the visa order, the "No Derogatory Records" stamp and the Certificate of Travel come from different BI sections, so collect those first.
4. Re-issue or update the I-Card. Do this once the new passport and visa stamp are in place, so the details line up in one go.
5. Update everything else that carries your passport number. The Alien Employment Permit is issued by the Department of Labor and Employment; ask the issuing DOLE office whether a passport change requires an update. Banks, SIM registration and leases follow their own rules.
6. Arrange travel last. See the next section.

The order matters most when several problems overlap and a trip is looming. Before acting, list which documents you still hold, when your visa expires and whether this year's annual report is done; the annual report rules are in the BI annual report guide.

It also pays to tell your employer early. Your work permit and visa are both tied to that job, and HR will need to update its own employee records and document copies; telling them early lets them prepare in parallel rather than after the fact.

If you would like someone to plan the sequence and handle the BI windows, Yixing's visa and documentation team can help.

Can you travel while the replacement is in progress?

Bottom line: for a temporary trip, wait until the passport, visa stamp and I-Card are essentially in place; if you are leaving for good, the route is downgrading and clearance, not replacement.

A temporary trip, returning to work. The Charter says an ECC-B, together with a re-entry permit for immigrants or a special return certificate for non-immigrants, is issued to holders of immigrant or non-immigrant visas with a valid ACR I-Card who are leaving temporarily. Its checklist includes a copy of the I-Card, front and back, plus copies of the passport bio page, the page bearing the visa implementation and the latest departure stamp. In practice:

• if the visa has not yet been re-stamped in the new passport, there is no visa implementation page to copy;
• if the I-Card is still being re-issued, there is no card to copy.

Whether receipts or affidavits can stand in for missing items is for the BI to decide case by case, so do not gamble at the airport. The difference between ECC-A and ECC-B is explained in our ECC guide.

Approved, but you left before implementation. If the Board approved your 9G and you left before the visa was stamped, use the Revalidation of Visas route described in section one and watch the fifteen-working-day window after arrival.

Leaving for good. If your employment has ended and you will not continue on a 9G, the usual path is to downgrade and then take the clearance that matches your status before departing. If the old passport is lost and you hold only a travel document, the BI side of your record still has to be connected, or the clearance check cannot match your visa and arrival history. For timing and consequences, see why 9G holders downgrade before leaving; if there are unpaid fees or an overstay, see leaving with unpaid fees.

One more caution: if you find the old passport after reporting it lost, do not travel on it. A BI release notes that its Advance Passenger Information System checks passengers against Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database; whether a reported passport can be used again is for the issuing authority to say. Other common reasons for being held at the airport are covered in the companion piece why travellers get stopped at Philippine immigration.

Missing more than one of passport, I-Card and visa stamp, with a trip coming up? Let Yixing map the shortest route based on your 9G status →

Expired, cancelled or a new employer: that is not replacement

Bottom line: once the visa itself is no longer valid, there is no replacement route; depending on the cause, you renew late, downgrade, convert or apply again. Four situations come up most often:

1. You forgot to renew and the visa has expired. How long ago it lapsed and whether your employer still supports you make a large difference; see a 9G that expired because you forgot. For when to start a renewal and who files it, see 9G renewal.
2. The company closed, was deregistered or let you go. The 9G is tied to the employer, so when that relationship ends the visa loses its basis and needs to be downgraded or converted in time; see visa status when a company closes.
3. You are changing employers. The new employer has to go through the labour and immigration steps again; the old 9G is not "replaced" under the new company's name. See changing employers on a 9G.
4. A refusal or cancellation, followed by a fresh application. The full route from the Alien Employment Permit to the 9G is in the 9G work visa process; if you were refused, start with the reason, as covered in what to do after a 9G refusal.

Why draw the line so sharply? Because a lapsed or hanging status is a much bigger risk than a lost document. Remaining in the Philippines in breach of the conditions of a non-immigrant admission is ground 7 of Section 37(a) of the Immigration Act, and that ground has no five-year time limit; the companion piece Philippines deportation reasons explains the grounds. If you lost a passport or card but the visa is still valid, the earlier sections are all you need. If the visa has already lapsed and nothing is being done, that is the real problem.

A quick self-check helps you place yourself. Is the expiry date on your latest 9G stamp or order still in the future? Does your employer still exist and still employ you? Is your I-Card still valid? If all three answers are yes, you are dealing with a replacement. If any answer is no, start from the matching item above before worrying about lost documents.

Not sure whether your 9G is still valid, or whether you need a replacement, a renewal or a new application? Send Yixing your visa page, I-Card and employer situation, and we will tell you which case you are in →