People's Republic of China or Philippines
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| People's Republic of China | Philippines | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | — | 10 years |
| Partner can work | — | yes |
| Parents | doable | — |
| Pets | difficult | no trouble |
| Pet limit | 1 | 3 |
| Quarantine | no | no |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 1 118 · estimate | $ 373 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 26,7 | $ 22,6 |
| Life expectancy | 78.02 | 69.95 |
| Homicides/100k | 0.5 | 4.31 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 7.8 | 8.2 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: People's Republic of China — 24, Philippines — 32. Types present in both: work, study, family and repatriation. People's Republic of China adds: startup and talent. Philippines adds: investment and retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
People's Republic of China: the fee is 1,500 CNY wherever it is published. Routes with a published decision deadline: 6; the shortest is 15 days. Philippines: fees range from 1,010 to 37,060 PHP. Routes with no fee: 2. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 800 USD a month. Routes with a published decision deadline: 1; the shortest is 2 days.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: People's Republic of China after 4 years, Philippines after 1 year. Citizenship: Philippines after 10 years; the other country publishes no term. Neither recognises a second citizenship.
People's Republic of China in brief
The PRC builds entry around qualifications: besides the ordinary Z work visa there is an R visa for occupations in acute demand and, introduced on 1 October 2025, a K visa for young scientists and technologists. The constraint is the longer-term outlook: dual citizenship is not allowed, and official sources do not disclose the conditions for naturalisation.
Philippines in brief
What sets the Philippines apart from its neighbours is the language: English is official and used in business, so there is no separate language barrier. Getting in is easy — 30 days visa-free under a wide list of countries, extendable on the spot; permanent status through marriage arrives after one probationary year, which is rare in this guide. The 9(g) work visa, on the other hand, is firmly tied to the employer: the labour department issues the hiring permit for that specific company. The digital nomad visa created by Executive Order No. 86 in April 2025 is not open to everyone: the reciprocity condition requires the applicant's country to issue such visas to Filipinos itself and to host a Philippine Foreign Service Post. The order sets no income threshold at all — the widely quoted figure of 24,000 dollars a year comes from consultants' commentary, not from the text. The main constraint is not bureaucratic: on the INFORM scale this is one of the most hazard-exposed countries in the world — earthquakes 9.7 out of 10, tsunamis 9.4, typhoons 9.2. Naturalisation takes 10 years and requires giving up the previous citizenship.
Other comparisons
People's Republic of China or… Taiwan · South Korea · Japan · Thailand · Kazakhstan · Lebanon · Uzbekistan · Malaysia
Philippines or… Azerbaijan · Bangladesh · Kuwait · Iraq · Mongolia · Oman · Sri Lanka · Singapore
More on each: People's Republic of China · Philippines. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.