Overseas Absentee Voting
Under Republic Act No. 9189 as amended by Republic Act No. 10590, all citizens of the Philippines or dual Filipino-American citizens, who are not disqualified by law, at least 18 years of age by 12 May 2025 may register as an Overseas Voter and vote for Senators and Party List Representatives in the upcoming 2025 elections.
Qualifications
All citizens of the Philippines abroad, who are not otherwise disqualified by law, and at least eighteen (18) years of age on 12 May 2025 may register to vote overseas for Senators and Party-List Representatives during the overseas voting period for the 2025 Philippine National Elections which will start on 13 April 2025 until 12 May 2025.
Disqualifications
- Any person who has been sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment for not less than one (1) year, such disability not having been removed by plenary pardon or amnesty;
- Any person who has been adjudged by final judgment by a competent court or tribunal of having committed any crime involving disloyalty to the duly-constituted government, such as, rebellion, insurrection, violation of the firearms laws, or any crime against national security unless restored to his/her full civil and political rights in accordance with law; and
- Insane or incompetent person as declared by competent authority unless subsequently declared by proper authority that such person is no longer insane or incompetent.
Any person disqualified to register under paragraphs (a) and (b) above shall automatically reacquire the right to register and vote after the expiration of five (5) year service of sentence.
Where to Register?
All qualified Filipino citizens who are not registered overseas voters may file their applications for registration at the nearest embassy/consulate or other registration centers authorized by the Commission on Elections.
How to Register?
To register for overseas voting, applicants must personally submit all of the following requirements to the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC:
- One (1) printed copy of the Overseas Voter Registration Form (OVF1) which can be accomplished through any of the following means:Overseas Voter Registration Form (OVF1);
- Manually using the form provided by the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC
- Using the downloadable PDF-fillable form
- Through the iRehistro platform at https://tinyurl.com/ovregform1 (currently under maintenance)
- Original and one (1) photocopy of valid Philippine Passport; and
- Original and one (1) photocopy of proof of current Filipino citizenship (i.e. green card, visa, notice of action, work permit, or dual IC).
Note:
iRehistro is NOT an online registration system. It is only used to fill out and generate the OVF1 form with QR code.
After encoding all the needed information, the applicant must save a copy of the system-generated PDF file containing the accomplished OVF1 on his/her device, and prepare a printed copy. This printout will serve as the form which needs to be submitted personally to the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C., along with the other requirements, for the processing of the application as per Sec. 6 of Republic Act No. 10590.
No personal data will be saved or retained on any server after using iRehistro. In case the system-generated PDF file was deleted or lost, the applicant has to repeat the process to generate another OVF1.
In the absence of a valid Philippine passport, any of the following can be submitted:
- Approved Report of Birth
- In case of applicants who reacquired their Filipino Citizenship pursuant to Republic Act No. 9225, the original or certified true copy of the Order of Approval of their application to retain or reacquire their Filipino citizenship issued by Post or their Identification Certificates issued by the Posts or the Bureau of Immigration; or
- In case of seafarers, photocopy of Seafarer’s Book.
When to Register?
The filing of application for registration/certification for the purposes of the May 2025 elections is from 09 December 2022 to 30 September 2024.
Requests for Transfer of Registration Records may be filed at the Posts or before the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) of the COMELEC during the registration period.
You can download and view the list of overseas voters due for deactivation when available. Please follow our social media pages or website for updates.