Can a 9G Be Filed During Probation? The Clock Starts at the Contract, Not at Regularisation

Yes, and the starting point is the contract date

Neither the employment permit nor the 9G requires regular employment status. What they test is whether a genuine employment relationship exists, whether the position is real, and whether the employer qualifies.

The permit rests on Article 40 of the Labor Code (Presidential Decree No. 442) and Department Order No. 248, series of 2025; the visa rests on Section 9(g) of Commonwealth Act No. 613. Neither contains a clause barring probationary employees.

The hard clause is the deadline: file within 15 calendar days of signing or of the appointment letter. Whether the contract carries a probation clause does not move that date. See what the three tests look at.

How to write probation into the contract without creating trouble

A probation clause is fine, but the job title, duties, qualifications and pay must be final.

Publication and justification both run on the position: the vacancy is advertised at least 15 days before filing in a newspaper of general circulation, the publication is valid 45 days, and it covers only the listed position. A contract that says "position to be agreed after probation" leaves nothing to advertise.

A foreign national's contract also has to be notarised or authenticated and state the position, scope of work, duties, salary and benefits. See contracts for foreign nationals.

Contract still in draft and the title not yet fixed — that is the cheapest moment to get the whole chain in order → have Yixing review terms and timing before signing

Three costs of waiting for regularisation

The deadline cost. The 15 calendar day window runs from signing. File three months later and late filing is already a fact, penalised at whatever rate the department publishes.

The gap cost. Permit plus 9G typically runs into months, so starting at regularisation means another stretch of unauthorised work after probation ends.

The redo cost. The 45-day publication validity and the 15-day filing window run in parallel; when either lapses, restarting usually means advertising again. See the four bottlenecks.

If the person is already at work during probation

A provisional work permit can be sought from immigration during assessment so that work can start lawfully before the 9G is implemented.

Three rules matter: it presupposes an already filed application, the first term does not exceed three months, and the cumulative ceiling is six months, with the official position being that it is not renewable. It is a bridge, not a road. See how a provisional permit is used.

Do not treat "the visa is being processed" as cover: working on a visitor status is never compliant. See what happens when unauthorised work is found.

If probation fails mid-process

Close it out on both sides, and the actions differ depending on whether the permit issued and whether the petition was approved.

On the permit side the employer reports separations and other material changes within 10 calendar days and files a quarterly list of foreign employees within 30 calendar days of each quarter's end. Cancellation requests follow the designated mailbox and subject format.

On the visa side, a pending petition with the person already gone is handled in resigning while a 9G is pending; an approved one needs the downgrade step before departure, see why downgrading before exit matters.

One blunt note for HR: hiring risk and visa cost are separate problems, and delaying the filing does not hedge the first — it only makes the second more expensive.

Written against rules published as of September 2026; timelines and fees follow whatever the receiving agency currently publishes. Yixing is a privately registered Philippine consultancy (SEC CS202009551, BI CA-202624381-1) with no affiliation to any government agency; this is not legal advice.