How to Renew Your Philippine Driver’s License

Tagalog Version (Click Here)

Welcome to this short guide on how to renew your driver’s license! Since I personally needed to renew mine at the Land Transportation Office (LTO) last August, I thought about writing about it here. If you want to know a bit about the requirements, the fees, and the things you need to do, just keep reading this guide. Take note though that the process may be different depending on what branch you go to and the prices will likely increase in the future so budget a bit more for it.

In any case, since we don’t need long introductions here, let’s start with the guide!

Requirements for renewal:

Here’s what you need to bring.

1. Your LTO driver’s license (current or expired).
2. Money to pay the fees.*
3. LTO Portal Account: https://portal.lto.gov.ph/ 

*As of this writing, renewal costs P585, and the medical tests cost approximately P480 at the Ayala MRT branch, so bring at least P1,065. If your license is expired, you have penalties you need to pay, or you need to revise your records, then you need to bring more.

The prices may increase in the future. If you want an updated list of fees, you can check it out on the main LTO website here: https://lto.gov.ph/license-and-permit.html#license-schedule-of-fees-and-charges

Notes on the medical fees: The clinics for the medical tests are said to be private according to the LTO’s tarpaulin (pictured somewhere in this article). That means it’s not government-owned and regulated so the prices may be different depending on the branch you go to.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON THE LTO PORTAL ACCOUNT: Use a different password for this account. You may need to login this account on a public PC at the LTO branch. It’s best to be cautious here to avoid getting your other personal accounts hacked.

How to Renew Your Driver’s License

1. Register at the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal: https://portal.lto.gov.ph/.
   • Agree to the terms and conditions and enroll.
   • IMPORTANT NOTE: I’ll say it again, use a different password for this account. You may need to login this account on a public PC at the LTO branch.
   • Fill up the required information. Enter your current license details, nationality, and other personal details like name, birthday, contact details, etc.
   • Confirm your email. Login and double-check your information.
2. Go to your preferred LTO Driver’s License Renewal Center where you want to renew your license.
3. Go to the first window and have them check your old license and your LTMS account. Fill up the forms that they will give you, and they will send you to the clinic for your tests.
4. Medical testing step. Fill up and submit the forms the clinic gives you and pay for the tests (Note: The price may be different for each branch.).
   • Do the eyesight and color blind tests.
   • Complete the medical interview.
   • Have your photo and biometrics taken.
   • Receive your medical papers.
5. Go back to the LTO office and submit your medical papers.
6. Follow the employee’s instructions and login to your LTO account at their PC. The employee will process and print your paperwork there like your payment form.
   • Note: This step may be different on your LTO branch since those can be done at home or on your phone. Since the process is complicated, the LTO employees at Ayala MRT station did it for us on their PC.
7. Pay for your license. You’ll need to pay more if your license is expired, you have existing violations, or you had changes to your record. 
8. Biometrics step: They’ll take your picture, signature, and fingerprints. Double-check your data in case there are any errors, and confirm with your two index fingers.
9. Receive your new driver’s license and receipt! Your new driver’s license will be valid for 5 years.

Updating records:

The whole license renewal process took about an hour (12:38pm to 1:41pm). Unfortunately, as I was about to go home I noticed some errors on my license that I needed to update. I had to submit some more requirements and pay a lot of extra fees because of that, but it was worth it to make sure that all the information on my main ID is all correct. 

These were some of the requirements I needed to submit:

• Record correction: Needs my PSA Birth Certificate.
• Address correction: Needs a billing statement.

If you need to update your data on your driver’s license, you can check the specific requirements on the LTO website on this link: https://lto.gov.ph/latest-advisory/19-driver-s-license-supporting-documents-per-transactions

In my case, I had to make my family scan my PSA birth certificate and send it to me via email so I could update my bio data. As for my address, the LTO accepted my online credit card statement. The LTO employee printed those soft copies, scanned them, and attached them to my records. After double-checking everything and confirming that everything is correct, they finally printed my new, updated driver’s license and I could finally go home. They said I made it just in time too. From what I can recall, the LTO employee said that if I missed some cutoff period or if the main branch employee approving those record changes already left, I would have needed to come back another day to get my license. I’m glad I was able to complete it all on that day.

In any case, that was my experience with the driver’s license renewal and record update. I hope this guide helped you, and I hope that the process goes smoothly during your turn to renew yours.