The Board of Trustees of the Philippine Retirement Agency (PRA), an attached agency of the Department of Tourism (DOT), has directed the PRA to suspend the issuance of the Special Retirees Residence Visa (SRRV) pending the review and amendments of the policies on age and visa deposit requirements.
In a special meeting today, 23 October (Friday), the Board directed the PRA to review its policies on the minimum age and dollar deposit requirements, and the conversion of these deposits into allowable investments. Pursuant to its current policy, which had been implemented since 1993, the PRA accepts retirees that are at least 35 years old.
Based on the previous directives of Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, who serves as PRA Board Chairperson, the PRA will likewise implement an enhanced program to regularly monitor the profile and activities of active SRRV holders in coordination with other government agencies, such as the Bureau of Immigration (BI), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
The PRA was also directed to coordinate with the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) for the formulation and review of PRA’s marketing and product development plans, and the benchmarking of its retirement program with other countries.
The Board directed the suspension of the acceptance and processing of applications to join the SRRV program, and issuance of SRRV, pending PRA’s compliance with the above-cited directives.
The Board agreed to reconvene on November 6, 2020 to tackle these urgent policy reforms.
