tourist visa

Thank you for that interesting link Pierre.

Maybe not so bad if the proposed legislation excises some of the the dingbat doughnuts I regularly encounter in the Philippines.

Lets wait and see.

French Canadian? Love Montreal.

Just the tourist visa, and rightly so imo

may be a bad news for tourists visa to come in june...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSYKlHoIFqk
-@pierredesmarais6

Thanks for the link, I doubt (hope) that won't happen, if it does I and I'm sure many expats will leave the country and take their bucks with them either back to their own countries or a more conducive country.

The Philippines will lose a heck of a lot of revenue generated by existing retirees.

My take on digital nomads generally are, young and want to travel with their work, mostly have no money and simply skip around the world, we used to call them back packers and sure they contribute but not like a retiree living here full tilt.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Just the tourist visa, and rightly so imo
-@Filamretire

Judge, Jury and executioner?

You probably say that because you are not availing an existing system that works for so well for so many.

Now you agree to them changing the goal posts?

If they do and doubt very much they will change as they can't put a sticker or stamp in your passport at my immi office and implementing those changes will see an exodus of expats and less Pesos in an ailing economy.

For me I care little as if they rule on that I will simply go the SRRV route but many spending their income/pensions here that can't afford other options will be ostracized and forced to leave what they call home. 

Typical here that some clown wants to change a working machine instead of fixing what is broken, see it every day here.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Wouldn’t an article from January 2022, talking about a vote in June have already happened in june of 2022? I find nothing at all in the news or on the internet about this.

The initial visa is for 30 days, first extension is for an additional 29 days, not 28 as stated in the video.

Sorry, this seems like someone who hasn’t checked the actual facts. I will not be following this particular podcast.

Well spotted blacksheep.if true but curious how you found that 2022 date. I couldn't find and heard nothing about this last year,,,,, fingers crossed.

Cheers, Steve.

Wouldn’t an article from January 2022, talking about a vote in June have already happened in june of 2022? I find nothing at all in the news or on the internet about this.
The initial visa is for 30 days, first extension is for an additional 29 days, not 28 as stated in the video.
Sorry, this seems like someone who hasn’t checked the actual facts. I will not be following this particular podcast.
-@blacksheepjuno

Are you sure about the timeline. I can’t see any allusion to 2022.

Moreover Gio is a well respected Vlogger and I doubt that he would get his facts wrong.

Where does 2022 come into this?  Gio's video is titled - Possible Philippines Visa Changes Coming in 2023. His video came out this month and he said the vote on the proposed changes is in June and he is using phrases like THEY ARE PROPOSING. He also talks about a new bill proposing a new visa for Digital Nomads and he pulls up a screenshot of the proposal. If you read the date on the proposal, it is 25 May 2023.

@bigpearl If you pause the video when he puts up the Bureau of Immigration notice, it’s dated in January 2022. Also, I did find a few articles about changes made in the Philippines tourist visa programs in June, 2022, but they were all covid related.

At the 6:22 mark of the video, Gio puts up a news article dated January 27, 2022, and he also says that date in his talk. And even a “well respected” person can be mistaken. That’s why I always double check, especially in these times.

@Cherryann01 Yes, the digital nomad visa proposal is new, from BBM, just recently. The changes on visa requirements which he brings up are from January 2022. Watch the video again.

And do your own research, don’t believe me, that’s perfectly fine. But his video covers two news items that are 16 months apart.

But, again, you absolutely have the right to believe and follow what you wish.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/23/23/ … nd-reading

https://youtu.be/P4yNsAZVupw

Here are two links, the first one is on the BI modernization act, which is what is PRESENTLY in the Philippines congress, and the second is a YouTube video from a Filipina (which I respect, and subscribe to), which discusses all the visa changes which are proposed in the modernization act.

Nowhere is the 90 days and get out item. Only the change from the initial 29 day VOA to the 59 day VOA seems to be real. Also, it will no longer be a 9A visa, instead, it will be called an A-2 visa.

My apologies to Gio, upon rewatching his video for the fourth time, I realized that he does have the correct days for present system. However, I think he got confused by the proposal of a max 90 visa that can be obtained from outside the Philippines, (for example from a Phil embassy in your home country, (but that also seems to be extendable.)).

All told, it appears that the tourist visa just got a little BETTER if this passes, IMHO.

@blacksheepjuno

Thank you for that update Balacksheepjuno.

Does it affect the 3 years that people normally stay then leave and start over?

I've read through the actual bill. I don't have a link, but others have posted it in different threads and in some of the Facebook groups.

Don't take my word for it.  Read it yourself.

From what I can tell, the 3 year extendable will be replaced with a 59 day VOA. Then you'd have to do a VISA run. The SRRV doesn't change and the number of slots for quota visa increases.

Depending on your country of origin, most countries I have visited do a 90 VOA. Things change. The SRRV is still one of the cheapest and easiest on the planet.

It probably hasn't helped having all these youtubers putting out videos that a person could live in paradise for US$300/month. And some schmuck comes here with limited means until they go broke or have a health crisis

@sekmet

"It probably hasn't helped having all these youtubers putting out videos that a person could live in paradise for US$300/month. And some schmuck comes here with limited means until they go broke or have a health crisis"

So true Sekmet. But as you very well know there is one born every minute in the west. In the Philippines that's reduced to 30 seconds on arrivals at Ninoy Aquino International. And do you know what? I bet the immigration officers can spot them a mile off. Plus Ca change

I read the bill too.  Yes it says initial visa is 59 days but it also says the Immigration Commissioner is responsible for setting Immigration visa extensions.  I am not reading anything that states you cannot continue to extend your visa past that time.  If there is a change to visa extensions then it will most likely be posted on the Philippines Immigration website because it is not specified in this law.

What I have read in the law is that it has more to do with upgrading their Immigration system, policy, and procedures.

Where is the inference being drawn from that imply that there will not be extensions available after 59 days in country? 

I've read through the actual bill. I don't have a link, but others have posted it in different threads and in some of the Facebook groups.
Don't take my word for it. Read it yourself.

From what I can tell, the 3 year extendable will be replaced with a 59 day VOA. Then you'd have to do a VISA run. The SRRV doesn't change and the number of slots for quota visa increases.

Depending on your country of origin, most countries I have visited do a 90 VOA. Things change. The SRRV is still one of the cheapest and easiest on the planet.

It probably hasn't helped having all these youtubers putting out videos that a person could live in paradise for US$300/month. And some schmuck comes here with limited means until they go broke or have a health crisis
-@sekmet

The SRRV is not one of the cheapest visas available, read my previous posts and I am better of availing the visitor visa instead of paying a US 1400 application fee, US 360 renewal fee per annum and locking up US 10, 20 or 50K in a hole that pays nothing to little, I am well in front on a visitor visor, The winners are the 13a holders and recognized vets under the SRRV program.

I don't qualify for either.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

The Filipina Pea has a new video about this today featuring a visa expert JR Coker (I may have spelt his name wrongly). It seems there is no need to panic and the information going around may have been misinterpreted.

I would recommend interested parties to watch the video, makes a lot more sense to me.

Don't panic Mr Mannering we are not all Doomed yet.

@Cherryann01

Don't panic Mr Mannering we are not all Doomed yet.

Yes as Sergeant Wilson would say ' Don't you think you're overreacting Sir '

@wrevans02 you've answered your own question.

@bigpearl which countries are cheaper with similar benefits? Thailand is something like US$28k. South Korea, Canada,  Cayman Islands are north of $300k+.

@bigpearl which countries are cheaper with similar benefits? Thailand is something like US$28k. South Korea, Canada, Cayman Islands are north of $300k+.
-@sekmet

Sorry I thought we were talking about the Philippines visa options and costs.

Cheers, Steve.

@pierredesmarais6  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl8GLCsAmT8

@Cherryann01 Thats right, in that video its get clear that you dont have to leave the country every 3 months. Thats the good news. The bad news is everyboddy wanting to leave the Phillippines, even after a short vacation will need a exit clearance. So if, for example, the gilrl you wanted to meet is not to your liking and you decide against a relationship, she can file charges and you cannot get a exit clearance, your short holliday will become your worse nighmare ever. For to clear your name and have the charges dropped you will be maybe forced to pay a huge summ of money. Even the Bureau of immigration or the police can come up with fake charges. Thats what i see in relation to that exit clearance.

@Cherryann01 Thats right, in that video its get clear that you dont have to leave the country every 3 months. Thats the good news. The bad news is everyboddy wanting to leave the Phillippines, even after a short vacation will need a exit clearance. So if, for example, the gilrl you wanted to meet is not to your liking and you decide against a relationship, she can file charges and you cannot get a exit clearance, your short holliday will become your worse nighmare ever. For to clear your name and have the charges dropped you will be maybe forced to pay a huge summ of money. Even the Bureau of immigration or the police can come up with fake charges. Thats what i see in relation to that exit clearance.
-@Ivo sonnenberg

So am I correct in assuming that the Exit Clearance is the fee you pay at the airport to depart like I got stung for once before even though my stay was for less than 30 days? Regarding what you say about the girl being able to file charges, would this if it happened, not take time? I think if this was the reality, most people would have already exited before the charges were properly filed and the computer system was updated. (Just my thoughts since I have read on this Forum that things take ages to get processed over there.

I also cannot see that many women there would even know that the foreigner has to pay an Exit Clearance Fee unless they have exited the country with them before to go on holiday or watched some of the bloggers videos. I also cannot see any official taking a woman who tries to file charges seriously unless there was cheating or something else serious involved in the break down of the relationship.

@Cherryann01 The story about the girl was just an example of what can happen. It will be verry soon known widely spread that foreigners will need an exit clearance. This exit clearance is not yet in place but it is part of the newly to be implanted immigration law, so thats still to come. To obtain such a exit clearance you will can get it at the airport but its better to get it from a district immigration bureau a few days before you leave. I have lived in the phillippines a number of years and in two years i go back to retire there. Foreigners are number one sources of income. They will find ways to missuse this exit clearance and file charges, you will miss your flight, maybe need of  a lawyer to clear your name, depending on what the charges are. Without exit clearance you cannot leave. If the person who filed charges against you withdraws them you can get an exit clearance. That maybe will cost you a lot of money to have this person withdraw the charges. I wont say it will happen to everyboddy but i am pretty sure it will happen. The police and Bureau of immigration personal are as corrupt as the rest of the country, so they will not only take the charges seriously but profit from them. Thats the whole point of the exit clearance to extract monney from foreigners. Understand me well, i love that country but a lot in it is also a pain in the ass. Shaking us out anyway they can is one of those things.

Ivo Sonnenberg - I understand what you are saying and the example you gave may have not been the best one but surely if there are criminal charges against a tourist, he or she would have been facing the same situation before this proposed amendment and would have problems departing the Philippines.

@Cherryann01 Honestly i dont know what kind of charges will do to not give you an exit clearance. Maybe they would not need to be criminal of nature, maybe just the fact that charges brought forward is enough to refuse you a exit clearance. It will make you miss your flight, possible your job at home. And if there is no deeper meaning behind it, why come up with an exit clearance? It will be not free, it will cost money to obtain it. Surely already laws are in place but this one is directed soly to foreigners. That makes me think. I dont want to be negative but from living there from 2014 untill the end of 2018 i learned a lot. I am just sharing my observations and what i think will happen and can possible happen.

I've read through the actual bill. I don't have a link, but others have posted it in different threads and in some of the Facebook groups.
Don't take my word for it. Read it yourself.

From what I can tell, the 3 year extendable will be replaced with a 59 day VOA. Then you'd have to do a VISA run. The SRRV doesn't change and the number of slots for quota visa increases.

Depending on your country of origin, most countries I have visited do a 90 VOA. Things change. The SRRV is still one of the cheapest and easiest on the planet.

It probably hasn't helped having all these youtubers putting out videos that a person could live in paradise for US$300/month. And some schmuck comes here with limited means until they go broke or have a health crisis
-@sekmet

The SRRV is not one of the cheapest visas available, read my previous posts and I am better of availing the visitor visa instead of paying a US 1400 application fee, US 360 renewal fee per annum and locking up US 10, 20 or 50K in a hole that pays nothing to little, I am well in front on a visitor visor, The winners are the 13a holders and recognized vets under the SRRV program.
I don't qualify for either.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
-@bigpearl

bigpearl - I have just watched a video about the Visas for the Military Vets under the SRRV Program and it kept referring to Officers but written information I have seen does not seem to distinguish between officers and other ranks so my question is - does the scheme apply to all military vets. Also the video mentioned a monthly pension of $1000 from government sources so I would also like to know if the $1000 can be made up of two pensions so for example, part service pension and part state pension.

Cheers Alan

PS I served in the Royal Air Force for 9 years

From what I learned on this forum you do not need to be an officer.All I  need is my DD 214.

@bigpearl you said  the SRRV was not one of the cheapest visas available. What's the cheapest visa available?

@bigpearl you said the SRRV was not one of the cheapest visas available. What's the cheapest visa available?
-@sekmet

The 30 day visitor visa is free, if you are fortunate enough to be married the Balakbayan visa I believe is free and good for a year, leave the country with your lovely wife for a well deserved holiday then start again when you both return. As for the costs of the 13a visa I have no Idea but my guess and others can chime in but that's probably the next cheapest.

Quota visas no idea the cost but limited to 50 applicants a year and you need to be well qualified and intend to work here sharing your skills and expertise, I am retired so never really looked into that one.

SRRV if you are ex armed services aligned with the Philippines and meet the PRA's requirements @ US 1400 application fee, 1500 deposit and 10 bucks a year is very attractive but their other options not so. I don't qualify for that and I have posted before the cost comparison between them and the standard visitor visa.

Visitor Visa here costs me about US 400 per year and can stay for 3 years, fly out and back, start again. Compared to the SRRV's lowest cost posted above, I have over 7 years of visitor visa and spent less, gets worse when you look at the other options with the PRA. Cash in my investments out weighs the benefits and cost of an SRRV by 6 to 800 bucks a year after paying for my visitor visa.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

No idea Alan (Cherryann01) talk to the PRA reps.

Cheers, Steve.

@bigpearl well, yes of course.

The language in the current bill indicates that tourist visas will be good for 59 days, at which  point the holder will have to do a visa run. Maybe a $250 RT to TPE, I don't know what is closer or cheaper.

Another poster suggested that there might be extensions, but there's nothing in the current bill to indicate that possibility either way.

So, it's $1500/year to stay, plus whatever residual costs of a visa run and the inconvenience.

To be fair, if you've been in the Philippines for seven years on a tourist visa, you're not really a tourist in the traditional sense.

In my opinion, I think $11k for an SRRV is pretty reasonable. You qualify for Philhealth and can establish a bank account. The interest is negligible, but it's also like an insurance policy for both the holder and the country. Things happen. People age. Maybe a motorbike accident or a stroke.

As a side note, the quota visa was increased to no more than 200 applicants from ONE country.

@sekmet There is a nice video going around from the Philippinian Pea, on Youtube with a guy from JRC visa consultancy and immigration service. He says that there is nothing in the bill that suggest that the current situation will change. Only your entrance visa will be 59 days and there will be the need of an exit clearance for everyboddy if you leave the country. So probably evryboddy can still stay on a tourist visa for 36 months. Like he explaines it in the video it made sense. I believe the video is called foreigners will not get the boot, or something like that. Just go to Youtube, type Phillipinian Pea and watch the video.

@ sekmet.

I have been here for 4 years permanently and avail the generous visitor visa, cost's me as said US 400 per year.

I have 2 bank accounts with BDO, I actually had a BDO account 12 years ago when I lived in Manila for a year.

I have Phil Health @ P 17K (15K if you are on an SRRV) per annum.

I have a 25+25 year lease. Own the house and chattels, live on the beach with my better half and no one bothers us.

We until Covid travelled O/S once or twice a year so not really a visa run but holiday in some far flung place. My last ECC cost me a whopping 500 pesos.

I renewed my visitor visa yesterday and asked about the changes you mentioned and was told "no sir nothing has changed" (note I said visitor visa and not tourist visa) I am a well accepted visitor here injecting plenty of bucks into the local economy.

As said do your math, US 10K deposit, 1,400 application fee, 360 annual fee. I pay 400 per year and that 11,400 sitting in my bank earning 5% is well more than paying for my current visa and I have control of the bucks while an SRRV holder doesn't and still pays 360 bucks a year.

Nothing wrong with the PRA's system but it doesn't suit me, many others.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

@ sekmet.
I have been here for 4 years permanently and avail the generous visitor visa, cost's me as said US 400 per year.
I have 2 bank accounts with BDO, I actually had a BDO account 12 years ago when I lived in Manila for a year.
I have Phil Health @ P 17K (15K if you are on an SRRV) per annum.
I have a 25+25 year lease. Own the house and chattels, live on the beach with my better half and no one bothers us.
We until Covid travelled O/S once or twice a year so not really a visa run but holiday in some far flung place. My last ECC cost me a whopping 500 pesos.

I renewed my visitor visa yesterday and asked about the changes you mentioned and was told "no sir nothing has changed" (note I said visitor visa and not tourist visa) I am a well accepted visitor here injecting plenty of bucks into the local economy.

As said do your math, US 10K deposit, 1,400 application fee, 360 annual fee. I pay 400 per year and that 11,400 sitting in my bank earning 5% is well more than paying for my current visa and I have control of the bucks while an SRRV holder doesn't and still pays 360 bucks a year.

Nothing wrong with the PRA's system but it doesn't suit me, many others.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
-@bigpearl

The one big hit that I see under the new system is that regular short term tourists will need to get an ECC under any period of stay, even 2 weeks. If that means they must travel to a district BI office and stand in line to get that clearance a few days before departure that will have a chilling effect on short term tourism; I know of no other country that requires that. If they can get the ECC at the airport, not so bad except for the additional time delay. But under current process, 9A must visit a BI office. Something tells me they will not impose such an ominous measure on short term tourists but this isn't clear as we speak. 

Yes Dan, currently 6 months before an ECC is required, immi advised me yesterday nothing has changed. I assumed that under the proposed system extending from 30 days to 59 days would not require an ECC but after the 59 days yes instead of the current 6 months.

Just from experience the 30 day free visa is fine if you are here for under 30 days but and but if you want to extend another 29 days it costs P 3030, been there etc. but after that it's only P 2830 for the next 2 months so under the current system is you stay over the 30 days in essence you are paying for your 30 day free visa.

My only ever ECC took 15 minutes and black ink on my thumbs and cost a whole 500 pesos. Given the way bureaucracy works I doubt anything will change.

Cheers, Steve.

Your ECC took 15 minutes but that is not the issue. You also had to travel to a BI district office in advance of going to the airport perhaps spending a night or 2 in a hotel. Again, no big deal for a long term tourist but if you are here on a 2 week vacation that could be a real inconvenience that cuts into your vacation days. But we will have to see how it plays out; difficult to believe they would actually pull this off.