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U.S. military rates and the SRRV Courtesy checklist for a scouting stay

This page is a checklist, not a visa approval and not a promise that a hotel will discount the room. Rules and deposits change. Before anyone wires money or books a nonrefundable month, read the current PRA materials and ask the hotel.

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Hotel military and government rates

  • Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Wyndham each publish some form of military or government rate, but the rate is not automatic at every hotel in Manila or Cebu.
  • Inventory is limited, the property can opt out, and the desk can ask for ID at check-in. A retiree ID, a CAC, or a veteran ID may each map to a different rate.
  • An Agoda price on this site is not that military or government rate. Booking buttons here open the public listing price channel—not a confirmed service rate.
  • Do not treat any hotel on this site as “military discount” until the property or the chain page has confirmed it for that building.

SRRV Courtesy

Confirm every figure on PRA’s own materials before remitting a deposit. This site does not give visa advice.

  • PRA’s expanded-program sheet lists a visa deposit of USD 1,500 for applicants 50 and older. Ages 40–49 are listed at USD 3,000 for a pensioner and USD 6,000 for a non-pensioner. Read the current Expanded SRRV Program PDF on pra.gov.ph.
  • The military category on that sheet is retired personnel who provided military aid and training to the Philippine government under a defense treaty or a similar agreement. A veteran who left service before retirement may not fit. PRA has to say so. Do not remit a deposit until they do.
  • The visa deposit is not the only fee. PRA also charges an application fee and an annual fee. Link to PRA instead of freezing a second dollar figure here.
  • The PRA sheet says the passport should hold a convertible tourist visa with at least 30 days left, and that some “no conversion” 9(a) entries cannot be converted directly. Send the reader to PRA.
  • If Courtesy does not fit, the fallback is SRRV Classic, or a 13(a) visa when the spouse is a Filipino citizen. Do not summarize those programs from memory on this page.

Printable checklist

  • Confirm with PRA that the record fits SRRV Courtesy, and which deposit applies, before sending money.
  • Ask PRA for the current application fee, annual fee, and the bank that may hold the deposit.
  • Book 14 to 30 nights in a tagged scouting-trip property in Cebu, Clark/Angeles, Subic, or Dumaguete—see scouting-trip hotels—or on the Roxas Boulevard corridor if the trip is for the VA clinic (Manila VA Clinic hotels).
  • Carry the ID the hotel named for any military rate, and keep the public-rate booking separate.
  • If the trip is for the VA clinic, enroll and send VA Form 10-10EZ the way the Manila clinic instructs, and read the limits on what the clinic treats.