Moving to the Philippines with Kids: School Enrollment Timeline

TL;DR: Work backwards from a start date, and pick the right one — DepEd's SY 2026-2027 runs 8 June 2026 to 8 April 2027, while most international schools here run a northern calendar (International School Manila's published year is 6 August 2026 to 4 June 2027). Six months out, get birth certificates and school records apostilled at home, because you cannot do it once you have left. Three months out, apply and sit assessments. One month out, the school files the Special Study Permit — within 15 days of your acceptance letter, and only a school accredited by the Bureau of Immigration can file it. Arrival week is deposits, uniforms and medicals. First term is the transcript that has to follow, and the permit renewal you will forget about.

First, Pick the Right Anchor Date

Everything in this plan hangs off one date, and expat families routinely choose the wrong one because they assume there is a single Philippine school year. There are two.

That is a two-month offset. A family arriving in mid-July is early for an international school and six weeks late for a DepEd school. Decide which system you are entering before you book anything. If you are still weighing that up, start with local vs international school for expat kids and the DepEd school calendar.

One more scheduling detail worth stealing: Brent's re-enrolment deposit for the following year falls due in late April. Places at popular international schools are largely spoken for by existing families before the outside world starts applying, so the practical application window for a August start is roughly January to April.

Six Months Out: Documents, Apostille, Shortlist

This is the only phase you genuinely cannot compress, because most of it can only be done in the country you are leaving.

Get documents authenticated at home. The Bureau of Immigration's own instructions are unambiguous: "All foreign documents must be original and authenticated by the Philippine Foreign Service Post (FSP), which has jurisdiction over the place of issuance, or by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) if said document is issued by the local Embassy in the Philippines, with English translation if written in other foreign language." The Philippines acceded to the Apostille Convention on 12 September 2018 and it entered into force here on 14 May 2019, so for the convention's contracting parties an apostille from your home competent authority replaces consular legalisation.

Apostille or authenticate, at minimum:

• each child's birth certificate;
• school records — latest report card, transcript, certificate of completion;
• marriage certificate and parents' documents, which visa applications will want;
• anything a school might ask to verify, such as a psycho-educational or special-needs assessment.

Get more certified copies than you think you need. Schools keep originals, the BI keeps its own set, and re-ordering from abroad costs weeks. Our guides on apostille for school records and authenticating documents before arrival cover the mechanics per country.

Translate anything not in English. Both DepEd and the BI require English translations of foreign-language documents.

Shortlist schools, and screen for one thing first. If you are looking at ordinary Philippine private schools rather than international schools, the first filter is not curriculum or fees. It is whether the school is accredited by the Bureau of Immigration to accept foreign students. The SSP checklist requires a Certificate of Acceptance from a BI-accredited institution plus that school's accreditation ID, so a school without accreditation cannot legally take your child on a tourist visa. Ask the question on the first call. The full explanation is in enrolling a foreign child in a regular Philippine private school.

Ask for the whole fee schedule in writing. International schools publish theirs; mainstream private schools mostly do not, and the number quoted on the phone rarely includes entrance fees, books, uniforms or bus. Compare against the published international schedules in our international school fees guide.

Start the visa conversation with your employer. Whether your children attach to a 9(g), a 13(a), an SRRV or arrive as tourists changes the permit route entirely — see 9(g) worker dependants and schooling and 13(a) visa children and schooling.

Three Months Out: Applications and Testing

Submit applications. Expect an application fee that is non-refundable and, at the top end, substantial: International School Manila publishes US$700, Nord Anglia International School Manila ₱28,413 per child, Brent US$300, Cebu International School ₱12,000 for new students.

Book the assessments. International schools test in English and often assess maths and, where relevant, English-language level for placement into EAL or ESL support — which is billed separately at most schools. Philippine private schools may run their own entrance test.

Sort out grade placement before you accept. Under Section 142 of the 2010 Manual, the accepting school has discretion, with the default being "the next curriculum year following that completed abroad by the applicant". Under DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2018, a learner from a foreign school abroad may also need a PEPT Certificate of Rating where the year abroad was not completed — provided at least three grading periods were finished — or where a grade-level standards assessment is needed. Get the school's placement decision in writing. A child put back a year finds out on day one, and that is a bad way to find out.

Pay the reservation, and read what it buys. Nord Anglia Manila publishes a ₱50,000 refundable reservation fee and a ₱231,530 enrolment fee; Brent publishes a US$600 seat reservation that is applied to school fees, and a US$500 refundable wait-pool payment for accepted students waiting on a vacancy. Refundability differs sharply between schools.

Ask about the mid-year path if your dates are uncertain. The 2010 Manual allows late enrolment only up to two weeks after the opening of classes, after which no further enrolment is permitted — though an already-enrolled student may transfer between schools during the year with the consent of both schools. Our guide to a mid-year transfer from abroad covers that route.

One Month Out: Visa and Permits

The sequence matters here, and it runs in one direction only: acceptance first, permit second.

The Special Study Permit. Under BI Memorandum Circular No. SBM-2015-007, an SSP may be issued to a foreign national in conjunction with a temporary visitor's visa who is below eighteen (18) years of age. For elementary and secondary students, it is issued on a yearly basis. Key mechanics:

• The school is the petitioner. The checklist starts with a letter request to the Commissioner from the school's representative; a parent or legal guardian signs the application form for a minor.
• Applications must be filed within fifteen (15) days from the date the Certificate of Acceptance or Notice of Admission is issued.
• The Bureau must complete SSP applications within five (5) working days of receipt.
• The BI's posted fees total ₱5,240 (about US$85) plus US$50 for the ACR I-Card.
• The SSP is not an entry visa. Visa-required nationals still need a valid way to enter the country, and the permit remains valid across exits and re-entries only if the temporary visitor's visa and ACR I-Card are kept current.

Detail in does a foreign child need an SSP and Special Study Permit Philippines.

If you are exempt, get it confirmed. The circular's exemption list covers spouses and unmarried dependent children below 21 of permanent residents, of 9(d), 9(g) and 47(a)(2) visa holders, of diplomatic and consular personnel, of accredited international organisations, and of SIRV and SRRV holders. It is written around tertiary enrolment, so for a child in basic education have the school confirm the position with the BI in writing. See also SRRV dependants and schooling.

Plan the ACR I-Card. It is a separate card with its own US$50 fee and its own renewal cycle — ACR I-Card for foreign students.

Do not book a one-way arrival for the week classes start. Immigration steps slip. Build in a fortnight.

Arrival Week

The 2010 Manual sets a precise test for when a child is actually enrolled: a pupil "is deemed officially enrolled after he has submitted his appropriate admission or transfer credentials, has made an initial payment of his school fees which has been accepted by the school, and has been authorized to attend classes in the school." All three, not two.

The arrival-week list:

• Hand over originals and collect receipts for anything the school keeps.
• Make the initial payment and get the official receipt. Payment schedules are real deadlines: Brent's quarterly instalments fall on 7 August, 5 October, 11 January and 8 March.
• Sign the SSP application as parent or guardian, and give the school the passport pages it needs.
• Uniforms, books, bus. Uniforms are usually school-specific and sold on campus. Brent publishes a two-uniform incentive for families paying school fees in full before 7 August 2026.
• Medical and immunisation records to the clinic.
• Confirm the transport arrangement. Cebu International School, for one, notes that transport is by an outside provider, optional and at cost.
• Ask for the term calendar in writing, including assessment weeks and the holiday break, so you can plan any trip home.

First Term

Three things fall due after the excitement is over, and all three are commonly missed.

The permanent transcript. DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2018 lists the permanent transcript of records from the originating school as a document to be submitted during the school year, not on enrolment. Request it from the previous school before you leave; chasing it from 8,000 miles away in October is miserable.

Placement review. Section 143 of the 2010 Manual lets the accepting school accelerate a pupil to a higher grade or move them to a lower one "depending upon the subsequent performance of the pupil in the accepting school", and makes the school responsible for supplementary programs to hasten facility in Filipino where it appears inadequate. If your child is drowning in Filipino or bored in maths, this is the provision to cite when you ask for a review.

The renewal diary. Set reminders now for the yearly SSP renewal, the ACR I-Card cycle, and the school's re-enrolment deposit deadline — which at Brent for the following year fell in late April, well before most families are thinking about it.

The Timeline on One Page

Ready to shortlist? Browse schools by area, including Manila and Cebu City. If you are still deciding between systems, read local vs international school for expat kids; if a school place is not the plan at all, see can expats homeschool in the Philippines.

Sources

• DZRH — DepEd: School Year 2026-2027 to start June 8, end April 8
• International School Manila — School Fees and academic calendar
• Brent International School Manila — School Fees 2026-2027 (official PDF)
• Cebu International School — School Fees SY 2025-2026 (official PDF)
• Nord Anglia International School Manila — Tuition Fees
• Bureau of Immigration — Memorandum Circular No. SBM-2015-007 (official PDF)
• Bureau of Immigration — Special Study Permit checklist, BI Form P-001-Rev 2 (official PDF)
• Bureau of Immigration — Special Study Permit service page and fees
• DepEd Order No. 3, s. 2018 — Basic Education Enrollment Policy (official PDF)
• DepEd Order No. 88, s. 2010 — 2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools in Basic Education (official PDF)
• HCCH — Apostille Convention status table