Lost Your AEP Card? Reprint, Correction and Refiling Are Three Different Routes

First work out which card you lost

The labour department's employment permit card binds person, position and employer. This page is about that one.

The alien registration card (ACR I-Card) comes from the immigration side and is your day-to-day identity document; replacement runs elsewhere — see replacing a lost ACR I-Card.

The passport. Losing it pulls the visa transfer question with it — see the three replacement scenarios.

Three issuers, three purposes, three channels. Sorting that out first saves a lot of wasted motion — background in the employment permit guide.

The reprint channel: designated mailbox, prescribed subject line

Reprinting does not go through the application portal. The 3 September 2026 announcement separates cancellation, card reprinting and agency accreditation, directing them to a different designated mailbox with a prescribed subject format — cancellation requests, for example, in the form "[Request for Cancellation] - company name and foreign national's name".

The same announcement applies a zero-contact policy under the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act (Republic Act No. 11032): questions, status checks and general clarifications go to the designated mailbox, and only those with a confirmed card-release slot or a formal notice may enter the premises.

Three practical habits: one email thread per matter, one named sender, and the subject format copied exactly as published. Entry points can change, so take them only from official channels — see the 2026 online filing rules.

Card gone and the announcement revised more than once — unsure which mailbox and which subject line → have Yixing confirm the current channel

What to prepare: tie the holder to the original permit

A reprint is about matching the holder to the permit already on record. Expect to supply the foreign national's name and passport details, the employer's name and establishment registration number, the issuance details of the original permit, and a statement of loss.

The establishment registration number is the item most often missed. The Bureau of Local Employment's guidance requires employers to obtain it before filing; it lets company-level documents be uploaded once and reused for other foreign employees. A first reprint is often the first time a company is asked for it.

One thing worth doing at the same time: check the card face. If the spelling, date of birth, position or employer name does not match the passport or the contract, correct it before the card is printed rather than after. The exact list follows the department's current announcement.

Can you keep working while the card is reprinted?

The permit takes effect from the record, not from the plastic. While the card is being reprinted, an in-force permit keeps the employment relationship intact.

In practice carry two substitutes: the permit lookup result or issuance evidence, and an employer certification of employment. Lookups are in how to check a permit and a 9G. Producing both on the spot during an inspection changes how the visit goes.

Distinguish one case sharply: a lost card is not an expired permit. A permit that has expired while the visa still shows as valid looks fine and is not — see is the visa still valid after the permit expires.

Two things to do once the card is back

Put the three expiry dates on one sheet. Permit, visa and registration card run on separate clocks and never align by themselves. Add the annual report window, 1 January to 1 March, and keep all four together.

Name an owner for collection and reporting. Under Department Order No. 248, series of 2025, not claiming the card within 10 working days of the issuance notice without valid reason is a listed ground for cancellation; employers also file a quarterly list of foreign employees within 30 calendar days of quarter end and report changes of name, address, worksite or separation within 10 calendar days.

Assigning both to a named person beats any reminder tool — cards get lost twice, owners do not.

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.