Reducing The Deposit For A Retirement Visa

[Thomas]

The difficulty is getting the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Immigration to concur. The issue is loss of revenues.

Well. Yes, THESE departments PERHAPS LOSE money (it depend of how many would get such VISA with an other fee)

BUT the Philippine COUNTRY WINN for "every" extra foreign retired, who settle in RP, because of additional money spend.

Them who say No, don't look at what's best for RP...

[JJReyes]

Whatever the deposit for the retirement visa, its the $500 a year fee that puts me off.  Thats getting very close to what I pay each year for my tourist visas so I don't see it being worth the trouble.

 

The annual fee for the Courtesy visa is $10. The current annual fee for other SRRV programs is around $360. The difficulty is the PRA does the application processing and approval, but the visa itself is issued by the Bureau of Immigration. The PRA's task is to increase the number of resident retirees. That's not part of the BI mandate. The result is bureaucratic conflict even if everyone is suppose to work together for the betterment of the country.

[Dave Hounddriver]

The annual fee for the Courtesy visa is $10. The current annual fee for other SRRV programs is around $360.

 

This sounds a bit like a politicians statement.  Are you saying I can get a visa where I only pay $10 a year?  Or is this hype that sounds good but no one gets one?

 

If I can get a retiree visa for $10 a year I am all over that.  Give me the details or show me the post where you gave them because I have totally not heard of that.

[Bruce]

Well. Yes, THESE departments PERHAPS LOSE money (it depend of how many would get such VISA with an other fee)

 

All the governmental income issues and convoluted rules and time tables could be avoided if the government charged every incoming tourist a $10 entrance fee and a $10 a month extension that you could buy up to a 12 month visa at one time. Same exit fees (700p) as now.

 

More income, less paperwork, less manpower, easier to control, more extended stays by tourists = more income for the Philippine government and the public businesses.  

[JJReyes]

If I can get a retiree visa for $10 a year I am all over that.  Give me the details or show me the post where you gave them because I have totally not heard of that.

 

First announcement was during the Philippine Retirement & Healthcare Summit conference last April.

 

You can read the requirements for the Courtesy visa in the PRA website. At the present time, this is reserve for diplomats and former Philippine citizens. The Philippine Retirement Authority, Board of Directors have already approved the expansion of their Courtesy visa to other categories of recipients such as US military retirees. The Department of Tourism (PRA is under DOT) has also approved. What remains is for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Bureau of Immigration to concur. 

 

The President of the Philippines has extended for another year Dr. Vernie Atienza's appointment as CEO & General Manager of PRA. He is working hard to get the Courtesy visa expanded. 

 

There is a large property development project at the former Clark Air Base and another in Batangas to be marketed to US military retirees. Both are continuing care retirement communities. Another is the re-development of the former Dewey Hospital in Subic Bay into an assisted living and senior care facility for US military retirees. I might be personally involved in marketing all three projects next year. 

 

Maybe I should avoid prematurely mentioning in this forum about up coming events similar to the proposed six months visas. I volunteered to do initial research on the 90 and 180 visa waiver programs by other countries to assist the inter-agency government committee studying the proposal. (Ever the USA has a 90 days visa waiver program with 36 countries.) Unfortunately, the final decision was to charge a fee because the BI needs the revenues. The process took about a year before it became a reality.

[JJReyes]

All the governmental income issues and convoluted rules and time tables could be avoided if the government charged every incoming tourist a $10 entrance fee and a $10 a month extension that you could buy up to a 12 month visa at one time. Same exit fees (700p) as now.   More income, less paperwork, less manpower, easier to control, more extended stays by tourists = more income for the Philippine government and the public businesses.  

 

Absolutely logical and beneficial. That's the reason it would never pass.