Affidavit of Support: Where It Is Actually Required
Legal and notarial · legal
Quick answer
A sworn undertaking by a sponsor to cover another person's expenses. DSWD requires one, with proof of financial capacity, for a minor's travel clearance. Executed in the Philippines it is notarised then apostilled for ₱100.00; executed abroad it is notarised at a Philippine post.
Every figure on this page is from official published documents: Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Foreign Affairs and Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles.
Last verified 3 sources, listed below
Department of Social Welfare and Development | Travel Clearance for Minors Travelling Abroad1 · Department of Foreign Affairs | Authentication and Apostille2 · Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles | ePassport Fees and Other Information3. PHGuides is independent and not affiliated with any agency.
An affidavit of support is a sworn undertaking by a sponsor to cover someone else’s expenses. It is a private document: no Philippine agency publishes a prescribed form or fixed wording for it. What agencies publish is where it is required and what must go with it.
Where a Philippine agency actually requires one
The clearest published requirement is the DSWD travel clearance for a minor travelling abroad. DSWD asks for an affidavit of support and proof of the sponsor’s financial capacity.
| Accepted proof of financial capacity | |
|---|---|
| Certificate of employment | |
| Latest income tax return | |
| Bank statement |
That pairing is the point. An affidavit promising support, with nothing behind it, does not meet the requirement.
The rest of that application sits alongside it: the minor’s PSA QR-coded birth certificate, the parents’ PSA QR-coded marriage certificate or a court decision on legal guardianship or a Solo Parent ID, a PSA QR-coded death certificate where a parent is deceased, a recent passport-size photo taken within 6 months, and valid ID or passports of the parents with signature.
| DSWD travel clearance | Fee | Processing |
|---|---|---|
| Travel Clearance Certificate | ₱800.00 | 1 to 3 working days |
| Certificate of Exemption | ₱300.00 | 1 to 3 working days |
The clearance lasts 1 year, but only for the same companion, purpose and destination. The DSWD travel clearance guide covers who needs one at all, and many minors need neither certificate.
The two routes to making one official
Which route applies turns on where the sponsor is, not where the traveller is going.
| Sponsor is | Route |
|---|---|
| In the Philippines | Notarise before a Philippine notary public, then apostille at the DFA if the document will be used abroad |
| Abroad | Execute it at the Philippine Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction, which notarises it as a consular act |
A document notarised by a Philippine Foreign Service post does not then need an apostille. It is already the act of a Philippine consular officer. The apostille route exists for documents notarised in the Philippines and intended for use abroad.
What the apostille costs
| Processing | Fee | Released after |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | ₱100.00 | 5 working days |
| Expedited | ₱200.00 | 2 working days |
| e-Apostille | ₱200.00 | 1 working day |
The red ribbon is gone. Since 14 May 2019 the Philippines has been a party to the Apostille Convention and the apostille replaced the Authentication Certificate. The apostille guide covers what each document needs before it reaches the DFA.
What a consular notarial costs
Posts set their own fees in local currency, so the figure depends on where the sponsor lives. Two worked examples from posts that publish theirs:
| Post | Notarial fee |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | US$25 notarial, plus a US$10 expedite fee where the affidavit is secured at the Consulate, so US$35 in total |
| Hong Kong | HK$200.00 per copy plus applicable bank charges on the notarization page, and HK$280.00 each on the Saturday consular services page |
Hong Kong publishes two different figures for the same service on two different pages, and estimates a notarial at around 8 to 10 working days from submission. Both figures are printed here rather than resolved, because the post publishes both.
The Los Angeles Consulate guide and the Hong Kong Consulate guide carry each post’s fees in full, and the Washington DC Embassy guide puts every notarial at a flat US$25. Check your own post rather than assuming another’s rate.
What this page does not cover
There is no single official affidavit of support form, no prescribed wording, and no national fee for the document itself, so none is stated here. A notary public’s fee in the Philippines is not regulated to a published national amount either.
This page also does not cover the affidavit of support and consent in the sense used by foreign embassies for visa applications, whose requirements are set by the receiving country and change independently of anything here. Nor does it cover departure formalities at the airport: the immigration guidelines that mention an affidavit of support and guarantee were not accessible on any government channel at the time of writing, so nothing about them is asserted.
Related
The DSWD travel clearance guide covers the one Philippine requirement that names this document, the apostille guide covers making it usable abroad, and the special power of attorney guide covers the other sworn document most often executed at a Philippine post.
Frequently asked questions
- What is an affidavit of support?
- A sworn statement in which a sponsor undertakes to cover another person's expenses, usually travel, study or a stay abroad. It is a private document that becomes official only when notarised, and it is the sponsor who signs it, not the traveller.
- Where does a Philippine agency actually require one?
- The clearest case is a DSWD travel clearance for a minor travelling abroad. DSWD asks for an affidavit of support together with proof of the sponsor's financial capacity, being a certificate of employment, the latest income tax return, or a bank statement.
- Is the affidavit enough on its own?
- No. DSWD pairs it with proof of financial capacity. An affidavit that promises support without a certificate of employment, an income tax return or a bank statement behind it does not satisfy the requirement.
- What does the travel clearance itself cost?
- A DSWD Travel Clearance Certificate is ₱800.00 and a Certificate of Exemption ₱300.00, with processing of 1 to 3 working days. The clearance lasts 1 year, but only for the same companion, purpose and destination.
- How do I make one usable abroad?
- Notarise it in the Philippines, then have it apostilled by the DFA. An apostille is ₱100.00 for regular processing released after 5 working days, ₱200.00 expedited after 2 working days, or ₱200.00 for an e-Apostille after 1 working day.
- What if the sponsor is already overseas?
- The sponsor executes it at the Philippine Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction over where they live, and the post notarises it. Consular notarial fees are set per post, for example US$25 in Los Angeles or HK$200.00 to HK$280.00 in Hong Kong.
- Does a document notarised at a Philippine post still need an apostille?
- No. A document notarised by a Philippine Foreign Service post is already an act of a Philippine consular officer. The apostille route is for documents notarised in the Philippines and intended for use abroad.
- Is there one official affidavit of support form?
- No national agency publishes a single prescribed form or a fixed wording, and none is reproduced here. What is published is where the document is required and what must accompany it.