Retirement Visas on hold.

[hk blues]

14 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Thats is why they like the PI to them it is just like being at home without the Restrictions they might have in China 

Jack, you took the words right out of my mouth.

[hk blues]

28 minutes ago, Freebie said:

I wouldnt expect anything less from our dear chinese neighbours. You should see the selfishness they display to each other in every chinese city...parking on pavements, blocking entrances,smoking where it says No Smoking, etc etc and 100 other etcs

I don't think either Tom or the authorities here said anything about the Chinese. Anyone who thinks only the Chinese are abusing the system must be having a laugh.

[scott h]

12 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

And no reason given...

 

12 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

some in power said they did not like it that "anyone" could come here then.

The original law was made in 1993 (right when the US bases started closing. An article a couple of days ago even mentioned its original purpose was to entice military retirees to remain, return or consider the Phil as a retirement destination. 

If 35 seems young, consider that in the US if a person joins when they are 17 they will be eligible for a retirement pension at age 37. 

Then why 35 you ask? Well in 1993 when they were closing the bases. The US military was downsizing and offering "early out" retirement options. (check me on this Jake) where a person could retire at a reduced pension at 15 years of service. That and a HUGE amount of support personnel at US bases are retired servicemen who basically do the same job but in a civilian contract status. In fact I have a neighbor (Filipino guy) who retired early and has been here ever since.

IMHO the reason for the young age no longer applies but like governments world wide they are slow to update laws once written, unless there is a political gain to be made from it (current anti Chinese sentiment maybe?) 

The Chinese were fast to spot the loophole and take advantage of it. Because you KNOW what is happening. A family in Wuhan (pick your city) pool together enough cash, send a 35 year old retiree, his wife and kid over. They get set up. The rest of the family comes to visit on a tourist visa and just always seem to miss their flight back home. 

 

[Mike J]

12 hours ago, hk blues said:

I don't think either Tom or the authorities here said anything about the Chinese. Anyone who thinks only the Chinese are abusing the system must be having a laugh.

At least one senator is in fact concerned primarily with the Chinese and making their voice heard.  Red highlights are mine.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1351888/retirement-visas-on-hold-over-security-concerns

Foreigners wishing to retire in the Philippines may have to put their plans on hold.

The board of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) on Friday suspended the granting of retirement visas to foreigners after several senators raised security concerns over the presence in the country of nearly 28,000 Chinese “retirees,” some of whom were only in their 30s.

An attached agency of the Department of Tourism, PRA was authorized by law to process and issue a retirement visa, which is a special non-immigrant visa given to aliens who “like to make the Philippines their second home or investment destination.”

The PRA board, chaired by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, also directed the agency’s officials to evaluate existing requirements for the issuance of special retirees residence visa (SRRV), which provides several privileges to its holders.

“In a special meeting, the board directed the PRA to review its policies on the minimum age and dollar deposit requirements, and the conversion of these deposits into allowable investments,” the PRA said in a statement.

“Pursuant to its current policy, which had been implemented since 1993, the PRA accepts retirees (who) are at least 35 years old,” it said.

The board said all applications and processing of SRRV would be temporarily suspended as it would discuss possible changes in the policies during their next meeting on Nov. 6.

It directed the PRA to closely coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor and Employment, and improve its program to “regularly monitor the profile and activities” of foreign retirees.

“The PRA was also directed to coordinate with the Tourism Promotions Board for the formulation and review of PRA’s marketing and product development plans, and the benchmarking of its retirement program with other countries,” the board added.

Among the privileges enjoyed by holders of SRRV are indefinite stay in the Philippines, exemption from the filing of annual immigration card to the BI and from the payment of travel tax and customs duties for the one-time importation of household and personal items worth up to $7,000.

During a Senate budget hearing on Monday, Sen. Richard Gordon quizzed Puyat on why Chinese nationals who were only 35 years old allowed to live in the country as foreign retirees.

Created by an executive order issued by dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1985, PRA currently grants retirement visas to foreigners aged at least 35 who have a minimum of US $50,000 (P2.5 million) cash on hand.

‘Soldier’s age’
Gordon, who had previously warned that Chinese-owned Philippine offshore gaming operators could just be fronting for China’s intelligence agencies to snoop in the country, said the number of Chinese retirees posed a “national security concern” since 35 is considered “soldier’s age.”

“Their number is equal to 27 (Army) regiments. That’s dangerous. Why would they retire here at 35?” Gordon said at the hearing.

The Philippines and China have for decades been embroiled in a maritime dispute over parts of the South China Sea. Beijing has been insisting on its sole ownership of nearly the entire water way, including the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

In 2016, China’s claim was dismissed by an international arbitral tribunal in favor of the Philippine government, who challenged Beijing’s so-called “nine-dash line” maritime boundaries.

Multiple visa dangerous
Gordon said that the Chinese could have chosen the Philippines as their supposed retirement destination “because they can go back and forth without visa.”

“With a retirement visa, they can have multiple visa. That is dangerous. I didn’t know that. I’m disturbed by it,” Gordon said. “Retirees, as you know, retire at the average of 56 to 60, to 65 years old.”

According to the PRA, around 28,000 Chinese had already been granted retirement visas. They account for about 40 percent of all foreign retirees living in the country.

At far second are Koreans with 14,200, followed by Indians (6,100), Taiwanese (4,850), Japanese (4,000), Americans (3,700), Hong Kongers (1,870), British (1,600), Germans (800) and Australians (750).

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1351888/retirement-visas-on-hold-over-security-concerns#ixzz6bpYEswm2
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[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

The board of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) on Friday suspended the granting of retirement visas to foreigners after several senators raised security concerns over the presence in the country of nearly 28,000 Chinese “retirees,” some of whom were only in their 30s.

I just quickly caught up on this topic and was surprised that more of you had not heard about this.  It is the cause of the SRRV suspension.  Dick Gordon is from Olongapo so he is followed closely here.

Call me Xenophobic but it is a concern.  Residents here have had concerns about the Chinese Pogo workers for a long time.  We would see quite a few exercising who did not look like office workers.  Very fit military age men with military style haircuts.  So when you see a surge of Chinese "retirees", who are young, it make wonder.

As someone mentioned, the surge could be a result of the cutoff of visa on arrival.  That close so they moved to another loophole to buy their way in.  I could be wrong, but seems like a Chinese "retiree' 35-40 years old is unlikely to have 50 k USD or the early retirement plan to jump to the Philippines.

Also mentioned was "they can do this on tourist visa".  You can work on SRRV.  Not so on a tourist visa.

[Dave Hounddriver]

16 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

You can work on SRRV

Well that is indeed interesting.  I did not even suspect that would be the case.  What is the point of a "retirement" visa where people work?

[OnMyWay]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Well that is indeed interesting.  I did not even suspect that would be the case.  What is the point of a "retirement" visa where people work?

As Scott mentioned, the original intent may have been to let U.S. military retire here and stay in civilian jobs.  Dick Gordon was probably involved in that back then.

[GeoffH]

53 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Well that is indeed interesting.  I did not even suspect that would be the case.  What is the point of a "retirement" visa where people work?

I thought the intent was for a retiree to bring their retirement funds into the Philippines and invest into the country, whether that be via purchasing a condo, investing in a jointly owned business with your partner or simply opening a Philippines bank account and placing the $50,000 into a Philippines bank increasing their available funds base.

[Shady]

Quote

Sen. Richard Gordon: "the number of Chinese retirees posed a “national security concern” since 35 is considered “soldier’s age. Their number is equal to 27 (Army) regiments. That’s dangerous. "

The Western world has a lot to learn from PH Senator Richard Gordon.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Shady

[Shady]

21 hours ago, GeoffH said:

 there are governments (like the current one in Australia and from what I can see on the news the current USA one) who get political milage out of being perceived as 'hard on refugees and minorities'.

Yeah, because the host populations want them to be.

Funny how you don't see any Filipinos complaining, or Japanese, or any nation that hasn't been programmed into believing their nation not only needs but "benefits" in any way from an influx of refugees.

Only the West, and only because of the Left, they open the borders and let the  third world flow in, not for the benefit of the host population, but to increase their own voter base.

They're learning the hard way about the error of their ways, which is why the Left is finally losing elections, but while they learn, I'm happily living in a nation who gets immigration right, because the gov puts their own people first.