My 16 Month Visa Run

[Dave Hounddriver]

It has been mentioned before that the BI policies and implementation of same changes so frequently and from official to official that your chances of having the same experience as me are practically nil.  In fact, my chances of having the same experience 2 times in a row have been nil.

 

Here are the highlites from this time:

 

ECC:  I was not able to get it 2 months before departure but I was able to get it 3 days before departure.  This has not changed.  I mention because many people told me that has changed now.  Not in my experience.

 

Travel Tax:  I was always forced to pay a travel tax of 1600+ pesos when staying in Phils for more than 12 months.  This time they did not ask me to pay it.  Oversight or policy change?  I did not remind them in order to find out.

 

Exit Ticket:  This was the first time ever that I have not been allowed to board a plane from Clark, Philippines to Hong Kong without showing an exit ticket from Hong Kong.  I told the clerk at Tiger Air that I travel frequently to Hong Kong with no exit ticket as we Canadians have that privilege.  She was not amused.  Fortunately I have a ticket back to Philippines for tomorrow.  That satisfied her.

 

More as the journey progresses

[Jollygoodfellow]

Exit Ticket:  This was the first time ever that I have not been allowed to board a plane from Clark, Philippines to Hong Kong without showing an exit ticket from Hong Kong.  I told the clerk at Tiger Air that I travel frequently to Hong Kong with no exit ticket as we Canadians have that privilege.  She was not amused.  Fortunately I have a ticket back to Philippines for tomorrow.  That satisfied her.

 

That won't be a Philippines issue but rather a Hong Kong one in my guess. Anyway you did have an exit ticket so thats all that was needed. Perhaps Hong Kong are enforcing the same rules as the Philippines and as we know its the airlines responsibility to meet the requirements. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

Perhaps Hong Kong are enforcing the same rules as the Philippines and as we know its the airlines responsibility to meet the requirements. 

 

Perhaps, but I can't picture that.  I mean has anyone from any other country experienced this when flying into Hong Kong?  I can see a possibility that Hong Kong imposes that rule on Filipinos but I am not one of them.  But then again, perhaps you are right as I have not researched the reasons either.

[BrettGC]

What I do know from experience is that members of the British Commonwealth are afforded more privileges in Commonwealth countries not of their origin than non-Commonwealth citizens with the only warning being "Don't work on a tourist visa" in most cases.  My experience with Chinese officials in Hong Kong has been nothing but pleasant with no more than a cursory check of status and I've been afforded the same privileges as if Hong Kong was still part of the Commonwealth - which it's not - but I'm sure there's a sunset clause on this, but not in any of our lifetimes.  Airline officials have been great too, particularly Cathay Pacific which despite having the least comfortable seats in the world, have the best customer service I've ever experienced in an airline.  Your tiger official may have been having a bad day Dave, or maybe new, or maybe a very straight player. 

 

I'll be watching your progress with great interest.

 

Tally-ho! Pip pip! Stiff upper lip! 

God save the Queen!

Edited October 11, 2013 by BrettGC

[Dave Hounddriver]

So I am back from my Visa run.  In Cebu at this moment and will report while its still fresh.

 

When was the last exit from Philippines:  I was asked this by the Airport BI official in Mactan but when I told him "Yesterday" he just gave me 'a look' that said he was not pleased but there is no regulation against that at this time.  Bet that changes one day.

 

Hong Kong.  They still did not care if I had an exit ticket.  We Commonwealther's are still getting well treated.  I suspect I could write an email to Tiger Airlines and they would reply that I do not need an exit ticket from Hong Kong in order to fly with Tiger airlines.  But that is not what happened in real life.

 

Exit ticket:  My exit ticket from Philippines was dated 8 months in the future.  The Airport official and the airline ticket agent did not care this time.  They only cared that I had an exit ticket, not when it was dated.

 

I asked the Airport BI official where I could go, in the Mactan airport, to get my first extension in advance so I don't have to go to BI in 30 days for that first one.  He said:  Not possible.  Go to Immigration office in Mandaue.  (Perhaps he was just being a prick as I have heard others say it can be done right there at the airport.  Anyone who wants to inquire further on that should probably talk to a supervisor at the airport prior to lining up)

 

Customs at Mactan.  They were going though lots of bags today.  I haven't seen that before.  When my turn came I was asked:  Are you SURE you have nothing to declare, no alcohol, no cigarettes, no electronic goods, nothing?  I said I was sure and I thought to myself that I would not bring expensive booze and cigs when they are cheaper here but I said nothing.  I was one of the lucky ones released without a search.  I suspect they were on a fund raising drive to see what they could tax.  I mean, I know I can bring personal electronic goods with me . . I'm just a tourist . . but that would not stop them from taxing me if they were so inclined and I would have to make a federal case out of it to get my money back.

 

Anyway, end of the trip, thats all I can remember, short and sweet and done for another year or so.

[andre007]

So I am back from my Visa run.  In Cebu at this moment and will report while its still fresh.

 

When was the last exit from Philippines:  I was asked this by the Airport BI official in Mactan but when I told him "Yesterday" he just gave me 'a look' that said he was not pleased but there is no regulation against that at this time.  Bet that changes one day.

 

Hong Kong.  They still did not care if I had an exit ticket.  We Commonwealther's are still getting well treated.  I suspect I could write an email to Tiger Airlines and they would reply that I do not need an exit ticket from Hong Kong in order to fly with Tiger airlines.  But that is not what happened in real life.

 

Exit ticket:  My exit ticket from Philippines was dated 8 months in the future.  The Airport official and the airline ticket agent did not care this time.  They only cared that I had an exit ticket, not when it was dated.

 

I asked the Airport BI official where I could go, in the Mactan airport, to get my first extension in advance so I don't have to go to BI in 30 days for that first one.  He said:  Not possible.  Go to Immigration office in Mandaue.  (Perhaps he was just being a prick as I have heard others say it can be done right there at the airport.  Anyone who wants to inquire further on that should probably talk to a supervisor at the airport prior to lining up)

 

Customs at Mactan.  They were going though lots of bags today.  I haven't seen that before.  When my turn came I was asked:  Are you SURE you have nothing to declare, no alcohol, no cigarettes, no electronic goods, nothing?  I said I was sure and I thought to myself that I would not bring expensive booze and cigs when they are cheaper here but I said nothing.  I was one of the lucky ones released without a search.  I suspect they were on a fund raising drive to see what they could tax.  I mean, I know I can bring personal electronic goods with me . . I'm just a tourist . . but that would not stop them from taxing me if they were so inclined and I would have to make a federal case out of it to get my money back.

 

Anyway, end of the trip, thats all I can remember, short and sweet and done for another year or so.

Dave as always I get excited reading your 16 month visa journeys. May I chime in and some of this may have already been discussed so bear with me.

 

I was able and for the last few visa runs was always able to get my ECC 2 months in advance. I do not know if you mentioned to that you now have to have the ECC notarized for 150 pesos which is a local notary at the BID of course they are not logging you in a book so those notaries they send you to is no different than the 40 pesos notaries at city hall.

 

The travel tax is either collected in your ticket or collected at the airport only. If you bought your ticket in person than the travel tax was included(should have been) because they check your passport in person. As a matter of fact Cebu Pacific would not let me buy the ticket with out my passport so my logic was if I buy it online you cant check. This time I had to pay at the airport but the time before for some reason they did not catch and I was not saying nothing..lol

 

It is funny on your HK ticket as I went to Singapore this time and I landed Singapore at 1pm and I returned on a 1am flight. I was questioned in customs on why I continue to come back to the Philippines. My simple answer is I have babies. They questioned why so many months. I said as long as I am in good standing I fall within the guidelines. The custom official a lady I think was trying to be sympathetic and saying I can get a resident status and I told her no that is not possible. She then said they may stop extending me. I just thanked her and left with a stamp of course. Same thing happened 16 months ago when I returned from HK that I used two different airlines so I can land in HK at 6pm and return 1am next morning.

 

They did ask for my throw away ticket and I was prepared as I had one from Clark to Kota Kinabula for 900 pesos but I used the following week date because i knew I would toss it.

 

I guess ill have to get married to stop going through this..lol

[Dave Hounddriver]

My comments in red.  I removed the 'quote' box to make it more obvious (I hope :-) :

 

Dave as always I get excited reading your 16 month visa journeys.

 

 (Thank you :-)  ) May I chime in (Certainly.  The differences in experiences we all have are actually quite entertaining.)  and some of this may have already been discussed so bear with me.   I was able and for the last few visa runs was always able to get my ECC 2 months in advance. (Reynald, the big guy, at BI Mandaue told me they stopped allowing that about 2 or 3 months ago which is why I could not do it).  I do not know if you mentioned to that you now have to have the ECC notarized for 150 pesos which is a local notary at the BID of course they are not logging you in a book so those notaries they send you to is no different than the 40 pesos notaries at city hall. (Excellent point.  I forgot to mention that AND I forgot to mention that a clear copy of front and back of tourist ID card is required.  They did not care that my card was looooong expired, they were just making me fulfill the requirements).  The travel tax is either collected in your ticket or collected at the airport only. I  (I have had them force me to pay it at the airport many times but it has never been included in my ticket.  Airport tax - yes - sometimes that is included in my ticket but not for all airports.)  If you bought your ticket in person than the travel tax was included(should have been) because they check your passport in person. As a matter of fact Cebu Pacific would not let me buy the ticket with out my passport so my logic was if I buy it online you cant check. This time I had to pay at the airport but the time before for some reason they did not catch and I was not saying nothing..lol   It is funny on your HK ticket as I went to Singapore this time and I landed Singapore at 1pm and I returned on a 1am flight. I was questioned in customs on why I continue to come back to the Philippines.  (I was also questioned and I said:  I have a girlfriend.  It was all I needed to say.)   My simple answer is I have babies. They questioned why so many months. I said as long as I am in good standing I fall within the guidelines. The custom official a lady I think was trying to be sympathetic and saying I can get a resident status and I told her no that is not possible. She then said they may stop extending me. I just thanked her and left with a stamp of course. Same thing happened 16 months ago when I returned from HK that I used two different airlines so I can land in HK at 6pm and return 1am next morning.   They did ask for my throw away ticket and I was prepared as I had one from Clark to Kota Kinabula for 900 pesos but I used the following week date because i knew I would toss it.   I guess ill have to get married to stop going through this.  (Seriously thought about that, and many other Visa options, but at this point they are all more stressful or expensive than a tourist Visa.  I can only imagine the torture I would be going through now if I had married my now ex gf just to get a Visa). .lol 

[OnMyWay]

Thanks for all the information about your experiences.  I'm going to do my first run this next February.

 

Honestly I am surprised to hear about the hassles.  I thought it was no big deal and the immigration guys didn't really care about restarting the tourist visa clock.  This is based on what I read in a few places.  I suspect that here in Subic BI they know everyone is doing it and don't seem to care.  The airports are a different story and a different mentality.  Andre, which airport did you arrive at?

 

I'm looking for tickets from Clark, if anyone knows a good one.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

My first visa run is not until August 2014 but I will keep reading these and taking notes  :)

 

It is always good to compare real world results to the posted rules.    :tiphat:

[BrettGC]

Thanks again for the updates Dave.  It will probably all change on the whims of the official on the day for us all but the basic procedure seems to still be the same.