diff --git a/cellbase-app/pom.xml b/cellbase-app/pom.xml
index 41f19821d6..dc256dee39 100644
--- a/cellbase-app/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-app/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
         <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-        <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/CellBaseCliOptionsParser.java b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/CellBaseCliOptionsParser.java
index b597e5325b..1c90526113 100644
--- a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/CellBaseCliOptionsParser.java
+++ b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/CellBaseCliOptionsParser.java
@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ public class VariantAnnotationCommandOptions {
                 arity = 0)
         public boolean checkAminoAcidChange;
 
+        @Parameter(names = {"--filter"}, description = "string indicating the FILTER label that variants must have to be annotated. "
+                + "Only variants with this label will be written in the output.", required = false, arity = 1)
+        public String filter = null;
+
         @DynamicParameter(names = "-D", description = "Dynamic parameters. Available parameters: "
                 + "{population-frequencies=for internal purposes mainly. Full path to a json file containing Variant "
                 + "documents that include lists of population frequencies objects. Will allow annotating the input file "
diff --git a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/annotation/VariantAnnotatorTask.java b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/annotation/VariantAnnotatorTask.java
index 30149cc31f..3d750c1585 100644
--- a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/annotation/VariantAnnotatorTask.java
+++ b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/annotation/VariantAnnotatorTask.java
@@ -17,14 +17,16 @@
 package org.opencb.cellbase.app.cli.main.annotation;
 
 import org.opencb.biodata.models.variant.Variant;
+import org.opencb.biodata.models.variant.avro.FileEntry;
+import org.opencb.biodata.models.variant.avro.StudyEntry;
 import org.opencb.biodata.models.variant.avro.VariantType;
 import org.opencb.cellbase.lib.variant.annotation.VariantAnnotator;
+import org.opencb.commons.datastore.core.QueryOptions;
 import org.opencb.commons.run.ParallelTaskRunner;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
+import java.util.*;
 
 /**
  * Created by fjlopez on 11/02/16.
@@ -34,9 +36,16 @@ public class VariantAnnotatorTask implements
 
     private final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass());
     private List<VariantAnnotator> variantAnnotatorList;
+    private QueryOptions serverQueryOptions;
+    private static final String FILTER_PARAM = "filter";
 
     public VariantAnnotatorTask(List<VariantAnnotator> variantAnnotatorList) {
+        this(variantAnnotatorList, new QueryOptions());
+    }
+
+    public VariantAnnotatorTask(List<VariantAnnotator> variantAnnotatorList, QueryOptions serverQueryOptions) {
         this.variantAnnotatorList = variantAnnotatorList;
+        this.serverQueryOptions = serverQueryOptions;
     }
 
     public void pre() {
@@ -46,18 +55,42 @@ public void pre() {
     }
 
     public List<Variant> apply(List<Variant> batch) throws Exception {
-        List<Variant> variantListToAnnotate = filterReferenceBlocksOut(batch);
+        List<Variant> variantListToAnnotate = filter(batch);
         for (VariantAnnotator variantAnnotator : variantAnnotatorList) {
             variantAnnotator.run(variantListToAnnotate);
         }
         return variantListToAnnotate;
     }
 
-    private List<Variant> filterReferenceBlocksOut(List<Variant> variantList) {
+    private List<Variant> filter(List<Variant> variantList) {
         List<Variant> filteredVariantList = new ArrayList<>(variantList.size());
+        String queryOptionsFilterValue = null;
+        if (serverQueryOptions != null && serverQueryOptions.containsKey(FILTER_PARAM)) {
+            queryOptionsFilterValue = (String) serverQueryOptions.get(FILTER_PARAM);
+        }
         for (Variant variant : variantList) {
+            // true when we find a FILTER match. to prevent variant being added twice.
+            boolean variantFound = false;
+            // filter out reference blocks
             if (!VariantType.NO_VARIATION.equals(variant.getType())) {
-                filteredVariantList.add(variant);
+                // if FILTER param set, VCF line must match or it's skipped
+                if (queryOptionsFilterValue != null) {
+                    Iterator<StudyEntry> studyIterator = variant.getImpl().getStudies().iterator();
+                    while (studyIterator.hasNext() && !variantFound) {
+                        for (FileEntry fileEntry : studyIterator.next().getFiles()) {
+                            Map<String, String> attributes = fileEntry.getData();
+                            String vcfFilterValue = attributes.get("FILTER");
+                            if (vcfFilterValue != null && vcfFilterValue.equalsIgnoreCase(queryOptionsFilterValue)) {
+                                // matched, variant added. we are done here.
+                                filteredVariantList.add(variant);
+                                variantFound = true;
+                                break;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    filteredVariantList.add(variant);
+                }
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/executors/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor.java b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/executors/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor.java
index 771b7919ca..dadb5444ee 100644
--- a/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/executors/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor.java
+++ b/cellbase-app/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/main/executors/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor.java
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ private List<ParallelTaskRunner.TaskWithException<Variant, Variant, Exception>>
 
         for (int i = 0; i < numThreads; i++) {
             List<VariantAnnotator> variantAnnotatorList = createAnnotators();
-            variantAnnotatorTaskList.add(new VariantAnnotatorTask(variantAnnotatorList));
+            variantAnnotatorTaskList.add(new VariantAnnotatorTask(variantAnnotatorList, serverQueryOptions));
         }
         return variantAnnotatorTaskList;
     }
@@ -576,6 +576,7 @@ private void checkParameters() throws IOException, CellBaseException {
         leftAlign = !variantAnnotationCommandOptions.skipLeftAlign;
         // Update serverQueryOptions
         serverQueryOptions.put("checkAminoAcidChange", variantAnnotationCommandOptions.checkAminoAcidChange);
+        serverQueryOptions.put("filter", variantAnnotationCommandOptions.filter);
 
         // output file
         if (variantAnnotationCommandOptions.output != null) {
diff --git a/cellbase-app/src/test/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutorTest.java b/cellbase-app/src/test/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutorTest.java
index 9da5c90793..7793500e82 100644
--- a/cellbase-app/src/test/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutorTest.java
+++ b/cellbase-app/src/test/java/org/opencb/cellbase/app/cli/VariantAnnotationCommandExecutorTest.java
@@ -965,4 +965,50 @@ private void cleanUp() throws IOException {
         return variantAnnotationCommandOptions;
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testFilter() throws Exception {
+        cleanUp();
+
+        // Set up annotation CLI options: NOTE checkAminoAcidChange is NOT enabled
+        CellBaseCliOptionsParser.VariantAnnotationCommandOptions variantAnnotationCommandOptions
+                = new CellBaseCliOptionsParser().getVariantAnnotationCommandOptions();
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.assembly = "GRCh37";
+
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.commonOptions.conf = resourcesFolder.resolve("commandExecutor").toString();
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.input
+                = resourcesFolder.resolve("commandExecutor/proteinChangeMatch/proband.duprem.atomic.left.split.vcf.gz").toString();
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.output = OUTPUT_FILENAME;
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.local = true;
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.species = "hsapiens";
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.filter = "PASS";
+        // Annotate
+        VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor variantAnnotationCommandExecutor
+                = new VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor(variantAnnotationCommandOptions);
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.loadCellBaseConfiguration();
+
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.execute();
+        // Load annotated variants
+        List<Variant> variantList = loadResult();
+
+        // one variant has the PASS filter
+        assertEquals(1, variantList.size());
+
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.filter = "BAD FILTER";
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor = new VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor(variantAnnotationCommandOptions);
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.loadCellBaseConfiguration();
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.execute();
+        variantList = loadResult();
+
+        // one variant has the PASS filter. there should be no results!
+        assertEquals(0, variantList.size());
+
+        variantAnnotationCommandOptions.filter = null;
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor = new VariantAnnotationCommandExecutor(variantAnnotationCommandOptions);
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.loadCellBaseConfiguration();
+        variantAnnotationCommandExecutor.execute();
+        variantList = loadResult();
+
+        // no filter 1 results
+        assertEquals(1, variantList.size());
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cellbase-client/pom.xml b/cellbase-client/pom.xml
index 1179ace503..041cf560f0 100644
--- a/cellbase-client/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-client/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
         <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-        <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/cellbase-core/pom.xml b/cellbase-core/pom.xml
index 72f7572779..8ab7e36eeb 100644
--- a/cellbase-core/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-core/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
         <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-        <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/cellbase-lib/pom.xml b/cellbase-lib/pom.xml
index 5aeb367361..15801c4e30 100644
--- a/cellbase-lib/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-lib/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
         <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-        <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/cellbase-lib/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/lib/variant/annotation/VariantAnnotationCalculator.java b/cellbase-lib/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/lib/variant/annotation/VariantAnnotationCalculator.java
index fdbd0fd35b..58c71eac3c 100644
--- a/cellbase-lib/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/lib/variant/annotation/VariantAnnotationCalculator.java
+++ b/cellbase-lib/src/main/java/org/opencb/cellbase/lib/variant/annotation/VariantAnnotationCalculator.java
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public class VariantAnnotationCalculator {
     private String consequenceTypeSource = null;
     private String enable = null;
 
-    private static HgvsCalculator hgvsCalculator;
+    private HgvsCalculator hgvsCalculator;
 
     private static final String REGULATORY_REGION_FEATURE_TYPE_ATTRIBUTE = "featureType";
     private static final String TF_BINDING_SITE = ParamConstants.FeatureType.TF_binding_site.name();
diff --git a/cellbase-server/pom.xml b/cellbase-server/pom.xml
index 770fb597c9..441fdd5a7a 100644
--- a/cellbase-server/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-server/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
         <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-        <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+        <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
         <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/cellbase-test/pom.xml b/cellbase-test/pom.xml
index c2ec35878e..e7ae05f7e2 100644
--- a/cellbase-test/pom.xml
+++ b/cellbase-test/pom.xml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
     <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
     <artifactId>cellbase-test</artifactId>
-    <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <dependencies>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 50b429494d..0d8f0f4501 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>org.opencb.cellbase</groupId>
     <artifactId>cellbase</artifactId>
-    <version>5.2.6-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>5.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
 
     <name>CellBase project</name>