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.

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Tagalog Version (Click Here)

The most important personal document you could ever own is your birth certificate. It’s your main identification document and you’ll need it to get a lot of other very important things like your passport, your SSS UMID, driver’s license, and more. Fortunately, you no longer need to go to the nearest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)* branch. You can now order a copy of your birth certificate, as well as your children’s birth certificates, online. 

You can get your birth certificate from two online sources:

• PSA Helpline – https://psahelpline.ph/
• PSA Serbilis – https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/Default.aspx

*Trivia: Birth certificates used to be under the National Statistics Office (NSO) but that organization has been merged to be a part of the PSA.

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Tagalog Version (Click Here)

Can you imagine life without a valid government-issued ID? You can’t open a bank account, you can’t verify yourself on online payment and transport apps like GCash and Grab, and you can’t prove your identity when picking up packages. Those are just some of the problems you’ll have to face, and you’re basically stuck and unable to do a lot of basic things simply because you don’t have a valid ID.

Unfortunately, most government IDs need OTHER valid IDs as a requirement to get them so if you don’t have an ID, you’re definitely stuck. Thankfully there’s one valid government-issued ID that’s relatively easy to get, and that’s the Philippine Postal ID (PID).

Here’s how to get your own Philippine Postal ID.

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