Retire to the Philippines and Succeed
You Ask, I Answer. Find Your Answers Here.
Help With Getting Her Visa — Rapid Visa
OK, time to talk turkey here (after all, it’s now close to Thanksgiving, isn’t it?).
Query after query come to me here, and via email, about help in getting their Filipino friends, especially Pinay girlfriends, US B-2 Visitor Visas to enter the United States.
Normally this is a situation where I just can’t offer much hope. It’s difficult, indeed, for a single, marriage-eligible female Philippine citizen to get a US Tourist visa.
People often ask about How Hard Is It To Get a Tourist Visa to the USA From the Philippines?Get My Filipino Girlfriend To The USA.
This is a very frequent question here at PhilFAQS. There are several different answers, and sadly for couples stuck between the USA and the Philippines, the answers aren’t always easy.
One way that you can get a Filipina friend to the USA is with a US Fiancee’ Visa, commonly known by its form number, K-1.
Another way s marry the girl and then bring her to the US with a US Spousal Visa (Either a CR-1 or IR-1).
The simplest, although often the most difficult way is to get your friend a US B2/B2 Tourist visa.
I’ve written an explanation of these basic visas here:
Tourist or Fiancee’ Or Spouse Visa. Which is Better?
Go ahead and read it now if you haven; already, I’ll wait here for you.
Ways To Stay Long-Term in the Philippines.
How long an American citizen (or most other foreigners) can stay in the Philippines is always a popular subject. A while back I wrote an introductory article on this subject where I explained that you can pretty much stay as long as you want to in the Philippines without asking special permission from anyone.
If you haven’t read that you should read it now, because it lays the groundwork for several other more formal ways that a US citizen can live here in the Philippines.
Go ahead and click on the link now, I’ll wait right here for you *smile*.
Now if you read that article you’ll understand how easy it is for a foreigner to live here but as some readers have commented, renewing a Tourist Visa every two or six months, or going out of the country once a year for a new (free) Balikbayan Privilege Stamp is not really “Permanent Residency”.
I mean, after all, it’s only worked for me for 14 years, so we couldn’t really call it “permanent”, now could we?
Why Can’t My Filipina Wife Get a Tourist Visa To The USA?
Updated and corrected to bring it up to date
This question comes up frequently. Often there is a lot of anger attached as a US citizen husband finds out that his lawfully married foreigner spouse can’t get a US B2 Visitor (Tourist) Visa, despite having all paperwork and immigration status documents in order.
But it doesn’t matter if you are angry, or even if I am angry in support of your position.
In many cases. the Tourist visa just ain’t going to happen. Why?
And it’s not likely to change any time soon.
Everything about the US Immigration system is geared to handle two things:
or
There’s Little Room in the Mind f the State Department For Any Other Category
How To Visit the USA From the Philippines.
Recently I published sw]everal articles about the difficulty of Diliinos getting approval for a US Visitors (Tourist) Visa, also known as a B1/B2 Visa.
Here are just a few:
These will give you the idea of the problem, in case you weren’t already familiar.
What’s the common thread that runs through all tourist visa discussions?
How Hard Is It To Get a Tourist Visa to the USA From the Philippines?
Here’s a typical comment that gets posted here at PhilFAQS, where you can learn how to move to and profit in the Philippines. Over the past 15 years, I have heard and seen so many stories like this that it makes me sad.
There’s nothing I can do except to try to clarify the way the US laws are written and how they seem to be applied to Filipinos applying for visitor visas (tourist visas) to the USA.
Disclaimer: Remember that I am not a lawyer and I have no connection with the US Embassy or any other agency or company involved in granting or denying US tourist visas. These are my own personal opinions and are not legal advice. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.
Why Choose the Philippines — Is Malaysia a Better Choice?
I originally wrote this about 8 years ago. It was in response to a lot of mail I was receiving on the subject of what country was “best” to live in for US expats.
At the time, Malaysia was advertising The Malaysia My Second Home program and many expats wondered how that program compared with what was available to retirees in the Philippines.
Significantly updated and corrected. Only a few things have changed in 8 years, mostly making it even easier to stay in the Philippines.
That’s a very good question. Why choose the Philippines instead of the nation of Malaysia for retirement, or just an escape from the western world rat race? [Read more…]