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Move to the Philippines and Profit There

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Dave Starr

Do It Yourself or Ask For Help in the Philippines

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Do It Yourself or Ask For Help in the Philippines.

(Updated 22 Sep 2018)

I had fun writing about my waiting for the chicken article centered around getting my car fixed.  I’m glad some other folks enjoyed it also.

I actually had fun that day living out the experience too … why?  I feel, mainly (except for the un-invited summoning of Philip), I was on my own.

Not knowing the language “to speak of” and often being a bit ignorant of local customs, it can sometimes seem a bit daunting to go off on your own to get things done.  But always having to have an interpreter/helper/shepherd guiding you can be very wearing at times as well.

Many Foreigners Refuse To Have Fun in the Philippines

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Just Fall In Line Behind The Chicken

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Just Fall In Line Behind The Chicken.

(Last Updated 21 Seo 2018)

Hauling Out and Dusting Off An Old Favorite

I first published this post nearly 10 years ago.  It’s always been a favorite of mine because it tells a lot about what it’s really like to live in the Philippines, day by day.

It has had its share of readership but it is now buried so far back in the archives hardly anyone is ever going to find it, so I decided to dust it off, polish it up and make a few edits to bring it up to the present.

How Did The Chicken Get In Here?

A while back I took my car to the dealer for its routine 40,000-kilometer service (that’s about 25,000 miles for the Metrically challenged out there).

Yep, four years now of living in the Philippines and car ownership in the Philippines and I have accumulated 25,000 miles already?

Already?  Heck, I would have run up that many miles back in Colorado in only a year … one of the many reasons that living here is much cheaper than living in the US, even if you insist on the luxury of your own car.

It’s now 12 years living here and I have just over 100,000 km (60,000 miles.)

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Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?

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US Visitor Visa concerns.  Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?

(Updated 21 September 2018)

Originally published sometime back.  Significantly updated and corrected for my current reader’s information.  Thanks for being a reader, by the way.

I have received a lot of queries over the years about the US Visitor Visa (known as a B2 Visa to the US State Department) for Filipinos.

Mainly these questions revolve around the subject of getting a Filipino friend a temporary visitor’s visa allowing them to enter the USA for a short visit.

People want to know, mainly:

  1. How do they (the visas) work,
  2. How much do they cost,
  3. Can my girlfriend get one, etc.
  4. I’ve heard they are very hard to get, and why?

It occurred to me today that I hadn’t written about these issues in some time when I opened an email from a reader here with some specific questions: [Read more…] about Can My Philippine Friend Visit Me in the USA?

Use A Fixer in the Philippines?

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Live in the Philippines — Use a Fixer?

(Updated 15 Sep 2018)
Should You Use a Fixer?
Here are a few thoughts on a question that comes up frequently here on PhilFAQS where we try to answer the most common questions about living in the Philippines.
With this question, you are not going to get a clear, quick answer from me, but I’ll give you some current guidance and some real-world experiences that will help you decide some things for yourself.

I Know A Guy

One of the joys, as well as the hazards of living here in the Philippines, is that you can often buy almost anything you want .. or hire someone to get something done for you.

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How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money

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Updated 18 August 2018

How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money.

OK, just on the face of things this is a really silly title for an article.  You can’t retire in the Philippines (or anywhere else) with no money.

But since more than 150 people a month come here searching for that exact phrase, I figured I better say something about it.

Actually, my blogging colleague Dave Dewall said some more about it, word for word. Two sandwiches shy of a whole picnic I think was one of his expressions.  Made me laugh.  Go read what Dave had to say here, it’s good stuff:

How to Retire in the Philippines with No Money

Now you might think that Dave’s article upset me.

Not in the least.  We’ve both been in the Philippines a lot of years now, and we’re both US retired men married to wonderful Filipina wives.

In other words, Dave knows whereof he speaks and so do I.

There are a number of prices and techniques he brings.. out in his article that I haven’t covered.

Well worth a read if you really want to know just how “low you can go” with monthly costs of retiring in the Philippines. [Read more…] about How To Retire in the Philippines With No Money

Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.

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Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.

(Updated 26 July 2018)

Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.Just recently I was telling a reader that writing about moving to the Philippines seemed very boring to me.

I had gotten very old and stale.

But then I just had a conversation with a fellow US military retiree here in the Philippines and I realized there’s a whole raft of things out there I should be writing about.

One thing people always ask about over the years I have been writing about is:

“What to Bring from the US and What to Leave Behind”

Well, I think rather than a blog article someone could write a whole book on that subject.  Sorry, that won’t be me.

But one thing that did come up with my retiree friend recently is something many westerners who move to the Philippines don’t think about a lot when packing their moving boxes. [Read more…] about Home Country Things You Better Hold On To.

Why You Can’t Get a Job

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Why You Can’t Get a Job.

(Updated 25 July 2018)

From time to time here on PhilFAQS, the destination site for information about living in the Philippines, I actually try to give useful advice.

One query I get often, both in personal contact and via searches that lead people to this site via Google and other search engines is: Finding a job in the Philippines.

Another top topic here and among a large percentage of Filipinos I know who are looking for work is resumes and job qualifications.

So this post series is going to apply pretty much equally to foreigners wanting to find a job in the Philippines and Filipinos wanting to find a job … in the Philippines or. well, anywhere I guess ;-)

Finding a Job in the Philippines

Or finding a job anywhere else on earth.  It’s a broad and complex subject.  More than I can possibly cover adequately in a thousand words or so here.

Both of these issues center around one fact of business life … you are typically one of many applicants and a lot of the initial screening process is done via resumes.
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Destinations Close To Manila

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Destinations Close To Manila.

(Updated 23 July 2018)

I don’t want to drift too far into geography here, but there are some good reasons to think about destinations close to the Philippines.

Reason 1, Onward Travel Tickets:

One common reason is a destination for a required “onward travel” ticket.  Technically, everyone entering the Philippines as a tourist must have travel booked back home, or to some other destination, within 30 days of their arrival in the Philippines.

The reason I used the word “technically” above is that although that is the law, Philippine Immigration seldom asks people for proof of onward travel.  (but they do, sometimes.)

The agency that almost always asks, though, is the airline you are planning to fly to the Philippines.
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