One thing to keep in mind when you start thinking about moving to the Philippines is that since this is a different country you cannot just fly here and live forever. You need some sort of visa, some legal way of living in a country if you are not a citizen.
There are a number of ways to make legal your life in the Philippines. Some people basically just fly here on a tourist visa and live here without adjusting their status. In my opinion, this is not the best way of living here, unless you will be flying out of the country on a regular basis. If your spouse is a Philippine Citizen or former Citizen of the Philippines, that opens a lot of doors for you and gives you a number of choices when it comes to visas.
Over a series of 3 or 4 posts this week, I will explain different ways for you to make your stay here legal. Come back and watch this blog for ideas on how you can live here legally!
my husband is from the Philippines. I would like to move my son and I over there to be with my husband. My questions is how do I go about getting the visa to live over there and how much does it cost to get them? I have been looking over the web to find out but have not found out.
Hi Im looking at getting married to a filipna while there which I know I can do. But my question is thisI know I can apply for a balikbayan visa then in time apply for a 13 a visa but I don’t see any fee’s on here any where. I would be living with here there and I would be working for a business that we would both own or atleast she would owm So any idea about the fee’s for staying there
Thank you
Xander
Check here for a rundown of 13a visa costs. Be sure to read all of the comments, the most up to date information is in the comments.
Hi Roberta – if your husband is a Philippine Citizen, or a former Philippine Citizen, then you have a few choices:
1. A Balikbayan Visa: you can obtain a Balikbayan Visa upon your entry at the airport in Manila. You must be traveling with your husband, though, to get it. With a Balikbayan Visa you can stay in the country up to one year without need to check in, or do anything. At the end of one year you can convert the Balikbayan Visa into a Tourist Visa and stay for one additional year, although you must check in every 2 months. So, you can stay for up to 2 years without need to leave the country.
2. 13(a) or (g) Visa: If your husband is a Philippine citizen and you are officially married, you qualify for a 13(g) Visa. If your husband is a former citizen of the Philippines then you qualify for a 13(a) (as does he). Under either Visa you can live here permanently. You will need to check in with the Bureau of Immigration once per year (in January or February) to keep your visa current. But, you can stay as many years as you like. To obtain the 13 series visas, you should check with the Philippine Embassy or Consulate closest to where you live and fill out the required application and obtain the required documents. It took me about a month to complete the process.
Good luck to you.
January 2007 there is a new SRR Visa – It is called the Modified Special Reduced Desposit Scheme – Ten Thousand US Dollars for those 50 years old and above (with pension) which shall be remitted to a PRA accredited depository bank, in the name of the retiree applicant, in accordance with existing PRA guidelines. If single the pension must equal $800 monthly and if married $1000 per couple monthly.
Hi Thomas – that's good information! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the information. It is very useful. My husband is a foreigner.We are planning to take a trip next month. I am wondering if it is possible to get a balikbayan visa if my husband(foreign spouse) and I( filipino citizen )travel abroad but not in his native country ?
Please help me.
Hi Jin – I am not sure I fully understand your question. If your husband enters the country with you (I assume you are a Filipina) he can get a Balikbayan Visa. They will probably issue that automatically, but if they don't – ASK for it!
I don't understand what you mean about traveling abroad but not his native country. Do you mean that you will travel to the Philippines from a country other than his native country? If that is what you mean, it makes no difference where you come from. As long as he is married to a Philippine Citizen or a former Philippine Citizen, he is entitled to a Balikbayan Visa.
Thanks for answering me. We will travel from Philippines ( my husband is having a tourist visa now) to other country but not to his country and go back again in the Phils.
hello bob,
your info here has been very helpful to me but i have a few additional questions that don't appear in previous comments.
1) if i marry my fiance in the Philippines will that still allow me to live there permanently with a 13g visa? or do we need to marry in the US? she is a filipino citizen and is currently living in the Philippines.
2) will i be able to file for the 13g visa as soon as we are married?
will you also give me some info as to where to find this information? i have looked on some websites but it just doesnt appear to be very clear as to how to proceed.
if you need additional information please let me know and i will provide it to you.
thank you,
Mike
Hi Mike – If you marry in the Philippines, the US, or anywhere else in the world, as long as your wife is a citizen or former citizen of the Philippines you will qualify for a 13 series visa. If she is a current citizen of the Philippines you are eligible for a 13(a), if she is a former citizen you are then eligible for a 13(g).
I do believe that you can file for the 13 series visa immediately upon marriage. There may be a waiting period, but if there is I am unaware of it.
To get full information about this visa, and to get application forms, just call the Philippine Consulate closest to your home and they will mail it to you.
Good luck to you, Mike!
Hi Bob,
I came accross your blog while searching for info about visa for Philippines. I am 57 years old and would like to live in Philippines with my Filipina GF who is Legally Separated but awaiting annulment from her marriage. As I will not be married, will I still be able to get a long stay visa?
Regards
Ian
Hi Ian – if you won't be married, it will be best to just come in as a tourist and extend your visa every two months, then leave the country once per year to start the clock ticking again.
On a side note, be very careful in your relationship. If you live with the girl, that is illegal (since she is still married) and could cause you some big problems. A lot of guys here are jealous too, which could easily result in death if they take it to that level.
Good luck.
Hello Bob,
I was surpriced to see that it is illegal to live with a married/separated Filipina. The risk from a jealous husband I do understand, but not that we would be breaking any laws.
Regards,
Erik
Hi Erik, it is indeed illegal to be in a romantic relationship with a married woman here. You can go to jail for it.
Hi Bob, thanks for confirming. Seems we need to get the annulment process going ASAP. Thanks for a good magazine.
Hi Bob,
I have been with my bride, who is Filipino, for thirty years and we are contemplating moving and retiring in the Philippines. She is currently building a house in the Binyan Laguna area, but I am still trying to convince her that Cebu is the better location; any options on these areas. My second question is, being retired military and on a fixed income, we are looking at a net of about $2000.00 per month to live on with another $1400.00 of Social Security when I reach 65. My wife says we can live very comfortable on this amount, is she correct? She has also mentioned that it is tradition to have relatives as helpers, when we do move there, and has two of her cousins ready to join us if we decide to move. (I don’t know if this is a good idea, it seems like her relatives would be servants of sorts and not family)
We have sold our home, and are planning to make the move in the latter part of 2008, if all goes well. I noticed you mentioned a prior Filipino citizen (and my wife is a naturalized US Citizen) has the option of applying for a 13 series visa for her spouse, which would only require a yearly check-in at the Philippine Embassy, are there any new requirements with the new SRR visa and monetary requirements that are tied into the series 13 visa?
She is also considering dual citizenship in the Philippines because of the lower interest rates on new homes and other benefits allowed exclusively to Filipino citizens; do you know of any advantages of dual citizenship in the Philippines?
With 11 grandchildren, we are sure to come back to the U.S. at least every 24 month, but that could vary if they visit us.
Last question and I do appreciate your time Bob; is the cost of bringing a small dog over costly? My wife says he is small enough to not worry about him being eaten, but I don’t want to spend a large amount of money on an 8 year old dog.
Thanks again for your insight, and take care.
Bob,
I over looked your categories on your Blog, which answered most of my previous posted questions; save the relatives as helpers, and any monetary requirements with visas.
Thanks again. Jeff
Hi Jeff – You have lots of questions. Even though you found some answers on my blog, let me go ahead and address them in case I have anything new to say!
If it comes down to a choice of Laguna or Cebu to settle down, personally I would go with Laguna. Cebu is becoming crowded, and more like a mini-Manila. If you are into the big-city lifestyle it may work out OK for you in Cebu, but personally, that is not what I would choose.
Yeah, with $2,000 per month, and more coming down the road, you can lead a nice life here. Especially if it's just you and your wife.
Relatives as helpers? Well, I have mixed feelings. We started out with cousins and such as helpers, but it did not work out well. Indeed, they were more like family than employees. That is not what I wanted. Soon, they got to the point where they thought that they could do what they wanted and not follow directions, and it just got to be too much, so they were gone. After that, we did go through a period where we only hired people who were not family. It worked OK for a while, but in the end was also unsuccessful. Now, for about 3 years or more we seem to have fallen into a successful way of having house help. We are using family, but instead of cousins and such, I have all nieces who are young and have shown that they are willing to do what I tell them, show respect, etc. What I have done is to bring three nieces into the family. They are already finished with high school, but not college. I don't pay them a salary, but they work around the house and take care of what needs to be done, and in exchange, I send them to college. College is cheap anyway here. These girls know that if they don't do as they are told and be responsible they will not finish college, and they act accordingly. To me, they are not helpers or workers, they are indeed family to me, and I love them as I would my own family. However, if they break my trust, they will be asked to leave (it has already happened with one of them, and the others know that it could happen to them). This has worked very well for me, and I am very happy with this arrangement. I have heard, though from other ex-pats that I am the only person they know who has been able to employ family and make it work. I do agree that it's not easy.
Regarding Visas, what I would recommend is that your wife just come on a Balikbayan Visa (nothing special needed, just fly here and it will be issued on arrival), which gives her a one year stay. She should file for dual citizenship right away (without doing that, her land ownership rights are very limited, and also she could not own a business at all). Once she has dual citizenship, she has no visa worries at all. For you, you should go ahead and file for a 13(g) visa, which would entitle you to stay here permanently with just a check-in every year. The retirement visa is available but requires you to put down a significant amount of cash to obtain. Since you can get basically the same visa through a 13(g) without putting down any cash, it's a no brainer!
Good luck on your move! If I can help you, just read here, leave a comment or e-mail me!
Bob,
Thanks for the quick response. I noticed you are a computer enthusiast of sorts; I build and network my own computer at home. Do you know of any tariffs or taxes put on computer peripherals; as in motherboard, CPU’s and hard-drives that are bought from out of country sources such as Tiger direct? Thanks, Jeff
Hi Jeff – on the computer equipment, it depends on how you get it here. If you have it shipped in via FedEx, DHL and the like you will end up paying customs. If you have it sent in a Balikbayan Box you won't pay anything. Post Office or Hand carried – no customs. How much will you pay if it comes via a courier service? There is no way to know, it just depends on how the customs officer feels at the time. It's totally unpredictable.
Hi Bob,
I have a quick question about tourist visas…Once you get your visa extended for say 59 days, is that multiple entry? Or when you leave after maybe 15 days, when you come back you're back on a 21 day period or do you still get to use what's left of your 59 day-extension (40+ days)?
Thanks in advance for your reply 🙂
Chrissy
Hi Crissy – When you leave, the next time you enter, you again have a 21 day visa to begin with. Hope this helps!
Bob,
In order to obtain a Balikbayan Visa do both passports (husband and wife) have to have the same surname ?
I seem to recall the Consul here in Melbourne telling me that my wife should change her passport surname and then it would be easier for me to enter the Philippines. He never actually mentioned the Balikbayan Visa.
Hi Laurence – I don't believe there is a requirement for both passports to have the same name. I recommend, however, that you carry a copy of your marriage contract when entering and present it with the passports. Be sure to request that you are issued a Balikbayan visa – kind of put them on the spot to give you one!
hello!
I'd like to ask about retiring to the Philippines – my spouse & I are Americans; we have no ties to the Philippines via family or friends. We have enjoyed travelling worldwide; my husband worked for TWA for a long time. We have thought about retiring to the Hawaiian Islands. We can afford it, due to a thrifty lifestyle when younger & wise investment. However, having met very nice people in the Hawaiian Islands from Vietnam & Philippines, we would like to check out & consider these lands before we decide.
Can you recommend some sites for further info? Is there a type of visa that will allow us to stay for over 59 days? We plan to keep US citizenship, & will consider dual citizenship. Also, do you any American or European women that would be willing to give their input on what cultural differences that I would have to adjust to, being from the USA? …I will say I am most likely not the typical American woman – My grandparents were immigrants from eastern Europe; I'm fairly well educated; & I don't have a lot of pre-conceived concepts on how life ought to be, ya know???
Last but not least: any reasonably good chance of my employment in nursing, even at an advanced age?
Hi christine – With a regular tourist visa you can stay for up to one year by renewing it at it's expiration times. After a year you would need to leave, and come back if you like. If you wanted to live here permanently, consider applying for a quota visa, I have been hearing lately that you should have a good chance in getting one.
If you just read the blog, AmericanLola (an American woman, as you ask) gives plenty of opinions that you are asking for. She is a long time resident of the Philippines, and you will find her wisdom in each of her posts, and also throughout the comments on the blog.
I doubt you could get a job here, but if you did the salary you should expect would be between $100 and $200 a month, would you be willing to work at that wage?
You are not eligible for dual citizenship unless you are a former Philippine citizen, and from what you write, I don't think that is the case.
Good luck in your decision.
Hello bob,my boyfriend stays in phillipines and i will vist for 2weeks.how will i apply for a phillipine visa and what is the cost of the visa application.note.i'm a usa citizen.
Hi Ralph – If you will be coming to stay for 2 weeks, there is no need to apply for any visa, and there is no cost. When you arrive at the airport in Manila, you will be issued a tourist visa free of charge, and that allows up to 21 days stay.
bob i have become friends with a girl in digos–she has been seperated for several years from her husband and he is with someone else– the husband and his gf live together and have a new baby i want to come stay there for 3 or 4 months while the anullment is being processed by the lawyer–he says it will be about 2 months to finish–the husband is willing to give the anullment– i have rented a house for the girl and her son and am sending them support money each month–if i come and stay for up to 4 months –can i live in the house with her. Also somewhere on your post i saw that i need some new paperwork to re-enter the usa in 2008–i have lost that info and am trying to find what i will need to get before i come–any advise will be appreciated– i hope to meet you in december or january–thanks for any help you can offer–james
Hi bubba – I know of no "additional papers" you will need to enter the US starting next year. If you are a US Citizen, the only thing you should need to come back in is your passport.
Now, regarding staying in the house for 4 months with your girlfriend. You can stay, but if he wants to the husband could cause serious problems for you, including having you arrested. Since she is still married, the husband can charge her and you with adultery in this situation. Yes, he is doing it too, but when he sees a foreigner boyfriend he will suspect that you are loaded with money, and he may well take steps to try to get a little of that money out of you, and having you charged with a crime is one step he could take.
bob–thank you for the information –i appreciate the information
Hi bubba – Happy to be of assistance. I hope everything works out well for you.