6 Month Tourist Extension Today!

[OnMyWay]

Today we drove from Subic Bay to the head office of BI in Intramuros, Manila, and I was able to avail of the latest and greatest tourist visa perks:  extending past 16 months and extending for 6 months.

 

I will avoid going there again.  Too much traffic and the office must have had 1000 people in it.  Next time I will look for a travel agent in Subic who can do it, if possible.  Better yet, hopefully I can get it in Olongapo City next time.

 

Yesterday I double checked in Olongapo City BI and they confirmed that they do not yet have authority to extend past 16 months, so the trip to Intramuros was needed.  I believe you can also extend past 16 months at the Makati extension office but I don't think they can do the 6 month extension.

 

Other than the waiting time that I am not used to in Olongapo City, the process went smoothly.  They are set up to handle a lot of people fairly efficiently.  Darn, there were a lot of frickin foreigners in there!   :hystery:

 

You check in at the information booth and get a number.  She didn't blink when I mentioned going past 16 months and extending 6 months.  No problem sir.  

 

I had to wait about 45-60 minutes for my number (about 20 numbers from the top) to be called to the Review window.  They have 4 Review windows with an LCD screen showing the numbers being served.  He also did not blink about extending past 16 months or extending for 6 months, and in seconds the computer spit out everything.  They do have the 6 month costs programmed in.

 

Next you go over to the Cashier windows (3 were open) and pay up.  My total for 6 months was p7350.  I will post more on that later.

 

Next you turn everything in at the Receiving window, and he told me it would be about an hour.  There is a Starbucks across the street so we enjoyed some snacks and Frappucino's while waiting.  They have a small canteen with local food there at the BI too, but it was very full.

 

Checked in at the Pickup window after about 50 minutes and it was still not ready.  I got it a while later, just a bit over an hour.  Total time was 1130 to 1350, 2 hours 20 minutes.  Not bad.

 

The 6 month extension has a paper stamp that goes in your passport and you pay p100 extra for it.  I am good to go until August!

[BrettGC]

Next you turn everything in at the Receiving window, and he told me it would be about an hour. There is a Starbucks across the street so we enjoyed some snacks and Frappucino's while waiting. They have a small canteen with local food there at the BI too, but it was very full.

 

The only downside to this story I can see is, being a coffee connoisseur, is you went to "Charbucks".  Those people need to learn to clean their lines more than once a day!

 

Thanks for the update though mate.