When I first moved to the Philippines, I wanted to drive everything I could get my hands on, like my Grandfather’s 1950’s Willys Jeep. 

Even though the Philippines has a reciprocity law, granting all foreigners with a Driver’s License printed in English a 90-Day window to drive without a local license, I always wanted an actual PH license to use a photo ID. After all, carrying around my PH passport wasn’t ideal, and many errands required multiple IDs to get things done. While I had a Philhealth and TIN ID I could use, those IDs were classified by the Philippine Government to be “secondary”. More importantly, these oversize IDs which I had to get laminated myself didn’t fit in my wallet. Pretty inconvenient and easy to leave in the house, if you ask me.

So I did what I thought would be best: looked up how to get a Philippine Driver’s License. It turns out that it’s quite easy to get one if you’re a Dual Citizen and you have a valid license from another country. While Dual Citizenship isn’t necessary, it makes the process easier since you’ll already have a PH ID to present to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) once you’re ready to apply for the conversion.

Aside from presenting your PH passport, you only need to fill out a quick form and show some other supporting forms of ID to the LTO. I showed the LTO a copy of my (United States) Birth Certificate. After a quick vision test and filling out a short application form, I was approved for a license after paying the 950 Pesos or so in fees. Not bad for a few hours of my time!

Enough talking though! I outline the entire process on YouTube. If you like what you see, don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for more videos on my adventures! Thanks for watching, fam, and drive safe!