You Don’t Have to Live in a Condo to Have an SRRV

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I received an important comment/correction from my colleague, the "Subic Sage" regarding this article, so I need to make sure the correction/clarification goes out to as many readers as possible.  Please forgive the re-posting so soon after the original article. I didn't really say anything 'wrong" in that article, but the way I said it could leave a very wrong impression in some people's minds.  There are steps to follow, like 1, then 2, then 3 and so forth.  As the Sage says, you can't … [Read more...]

Update on the KISS Balikbayan principle

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Updated yet again and presented for your information and consideration.  Many of you are making the move to the Philippines much harder than it needs to be,  Take action in 2013. Many will recall I have frequently mention the fallacy of spending months of worry, research and even long, expensive trips to Philippine embassies or Consulates involved in getting a permanent resident visa (13(a) or 13(g)) before a couple even comes to live in the Philippines for the first time. Yes it can … [Read more...]

Do I Need a Round Trip Ticket for a Balikbayan Stamp?

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Here's a recent comment/question from a reader that is important enough, I think, to merit it’s own article here on the main site. Reason I think this should be highlighted is it points out again what I so frequently find that Filipinos and Former Filipinos seldom get much good information about their own rights and privileges here in the Philippines. I’m delighted to try to spread the news … so many of the questions and requests for help I get are sad, or have no good answer.  This … [Read more...]

Philippine Visas — KISS

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Recently I had an email from a reader who has been in contact for some time now, with questions about his pending move to the Philippines. This fellow and I had discussed visas and other ways he had been considering in planning his move, and he had narrowed things down to a couple very specific points. Great.  And I was happy to be able to help in providing some specific answers. Problem was, though, he had read so much, ponder so much, compared so many things that he had gotten … [Read more...]

Coming to the Philippines as a Balikbayan

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New readers will want to refer to my recently update article on Why I Left the Philippines. A reader, (thanks, Sam), left a couple great comments, full of questions that many people aside from him want to know, so  decided to make another article out of it. Also, in case anyone has been living under a rock, you already know that we have a new President-Elect here in the Philippines, Mr. "Noynoy" Aquino.  Many of the provisions we currently rely on under the Balik Bayan … [Read more...]

Do I need a Visa?

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Since I was just involved in a small way with someone running afoul of Philippine Immigration regulations I though I ought to post some more clarification on this ... there never seems to be any lack of self-styled information on this subject, but there is always a lot of information that is partially or totally incorrect.  Mine comes from official sources at the time of writing ... updated 10 March 2010. Do you need a visa to visit as a tourist?  Simple question, two different answers … [Read more...]

Why I Left The Philippines

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Note:  this post has been corrected, significantly expanded and re-published.  Part of our on-going effort to make PhilFAQS.com your best source for answers to the frequently Asked Questions about Traveling to the Philippines, Retiring in the Philippines, or just plain living here in my second home, the Philippines. Yes, that’s right, after living in continuously in Marilao, Bulacan, Republic of the Philippines since 31 October 2006, on 1 March 2009 I boarded a plane and left.  Somewhat of … [Read more...]

When is a Philippine Visa not a Philippine Visa?

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In years or reading and participating in a lot of Philippine interest groups I think I've seen more misinformation about entry visas than I have seen regarding anything. This really doesn't seem so complicated, but it certainly does seem to stump a lot of people.  I certainly won't be able to dispel all the myths and clear up the confusion in one post, but I'm going to make a start at chipping away the iceberg. The simplest and most common visa situation is for the tourist who is not married … [Read more...]

Earn a Living in the Philippines — Fulfill a Need

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It’s a bit amazing to me how many people write we, week after week about what sort of visa they would need in order to live in the Philippines.  All the information one could ever want is on line, especially on the new and improved Philippines Bureau of Immigration site (Thanks BI, even all the reduced down to only two and they are downloadable).  Resources readily at hand also include the hundreds of articles I’ve written on the subject right here, and many more on friend Bob’s … [Read more...]

For All My Expat Readers — From Any Country

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Here’s another important pass along from my colleague JD up in the cool Philippine climes of Baguio.  Many people think they can’t get permanent residency in the Philippines if they aren’t married to a Philippine citizen.  This would be a wrong assumption.  Many former Filipinos think they can’t come back to the Philippines permanently unless they reacquire their Philippines citizenship.  This would also be wrong. And many foreigners and Filipinos alike have a wildly … [Read more...]

Philippine Questions and Answers — 23 Apr 2009

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Instead of a direct question this week, I am going to address a couple issues that have come up from readers and fellow bloggers in the past few weeks regarding one of our favorite subjects … getting through the immigration and travel tax hassles at the airport. Travel Taxes, Fees and Keeping Right With Immigration A few weeks ago a fellow blogger posted a bit of a rant regarding an airline here in the Philippines.  He was understandably upset about not receiving a … [Read more...]

Philippine Questions and Answers — 19 Mar 2009

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It’s Thursday, time yet again for another installment of our regular Questions and Answers segment of PhilFAQS, the place to get the answers about living in the Philippines.  I really should have started this article out with a hearty  Konnichiwa to our Japanese readers and friends, because I notice a number of recent searches from Japan regarding: How long can a Japanese national can stay in the Philippines? The short answer is, everything you read about US visitors is … [Read more...]