9a visa help: Financial Capacity

[Northbird]

Hello everyone, this is my first time posting here. I have been living with my girlfriend in the Philippines for 2 years during 2019 & 2020. In December 2020 I returned home to celebrate the holidays with my family, thinking that the pandemic would mostly fade away in 2021. That was obviously not the case and looking back at it was very naive of me to think that.

 

Anyways I have not been with my girlfriend for quite some time now and I really want to get back with her. She unfortunately has been offloaded twice in the past year and since the Philippines do not seem to open up to tourists any time soon we planned to get married online via Utah in order for me to get my 9a visa. We already made many preperations and have a date in mind. We also figured out how to meet all the requirements regarding the ROM and the visa application. Except for one: the financial capacity. I am rather concerned with that requirment since I can't seem to find a definitive answer on the matter. I am not rich whatsoever. I guess my income is on the lower average actually. But I had always managed to support myself and my girlfriend during my previous stay without any issues whatsoever. I know very well that I would have no problems financing myself in the future either. The Philippine government on the other hand might not think so though. I hope some of you who already got their 9a visa in the past year(s) can answer me the following: 

 

1.) How strict are they really with that specific requirement? 

2.) Is it enough to send photocopies of my bank statements or do they want the original? How many months should I include? 

3.) As mentioned earlier, I don't have a lot to my name but a steady flow of transactions and income. Would that suffice? Or is their a certain threshold or a magic number they want to see on my bank account?

 

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. 

[Old55]

Welcome to the forum Northbird. 

I can't answer your question but someone will have the answer or a link. 

In your case perhaps you should simply wait until Philippines opens up once more later this year. Nothing is sure but this ccp virus lockdown can't go on forever. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

11 hours ago, Northbird said:

As mentioned earlier, I don't have a lot to my name but a steady flow of transactions and income. Would that suffice? Or is their a certain threshold or a magic number they want to see on my bank account?

 

Its all about proving you will not be a burden on the country meaning can support yourself. If you have a pension it will be fine or as you say regular income.

Brett just arrived here so should be able to answer you better. I will ask him.

[Gator]

12 hours ago, Northbird said:

1.) How strict are they really with that specific requirement? 

2.) Is it enough to send photocopies of my bank statements or do they want the original? How many months should I include? 

3.) As mentioned earlier, I don't have a lot to my name but a steady flow of transactions and income. Would that suffice? Or is their a certain threshold or a magic number they want to see on my bank account?

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I just received my 9a visa and (hopefully) will be traveling back to the Phils in a few days. Concerning financial capacity, in addition to proving you you won't become a burden they also look at your planned length of stay and if you'll have enough funds to cover it. I'm not aware of any magic number or formula to figure that out. Part of the requirement for getting the visa is a confirmed flight itinerary. In my case my planned stay is about 4 months. I sent the first page from one of my bank accounts which has a balance that is more than sufficient to cover the cost of hotels, etc. I did not include the transactions and I also blacked out my account number.....then made a copy of it and that is what I sent. 

Back in September I started a thread about weddings via video conference. If you haven't already done so, you might find the information contained in it useful. Here's the link to it: https://www.philippines-expats.com/topic/32991-weddings-via-video-conference/#comment-303962

Do you have any relatives or friends in the USA? The reason I ask is you may want to use their address as a return address for the ROM. Then have your relative or friend DHL it to you. The consulate in San Francisco currently only accepts USPS (United States Postal Service) envelopes for returning the stamped ROM to you (you can use FedEx, UPS or DHL to send to them).

You might want to contact the Philippines Embassy in Berlin and ask if they will accept your ROM or if they can help in any way. But don't be surprised if they tell you that you will have to submit the ROM to their consulate in San Francisco as they have jurisdiction over Utah.    

[BrettGC]

Hi Northbird and welcome to the forum.  

I arrived in PI two days ago on a 9a visa.  Much like @Gator I provided bank statements, some payslips (I was still working at the time of application) and proof of my two military pensions (yes I get 2, each from a different authority).  

As Gator said, there doesn't seem to be a set daily amount as such.  There is an unverified theory that the magic number is $200USD each day of your stay, but I can't find any official confirmation of this other than on one of the PI embassy's websites, UK if I remember rightly.  It's not mentioned anywhere else that I could find.  

I posted a thread with regards to everything I provided for my application, the information and documents I provided may seem excessive but I wanted to make sure of it first go.  As stated in that thread I basically provided all the information stated on the Singaporean, UK and USA PI embassies' websites. The Australian PI embassy's website was next to useless.  The thread can be found here: 

 

With regards to showing proof of an onwards flights and hotel bookings at the application stage, I simply wrote "TBA (to be advised) once the visa is approved" and the Australian consular staff were happy with that.  In hindsight to make sure of it I probably should've taken Gator's route.

You may or may not be asked for proof of your onwards flight by airline staff upon check-in and on occasion, I have been in the past but wasn't this time around.  I suspect that this was due to my "throw away" being booked with the same airline as my my entry trip. 

I have never been asked by a BI official in PI for proof of onwards flights.    

I ended up having to provide an original of my marriage certificate for my application which they sent back with my passport.  It may be different for you but personally I'd err on the side of caution.  

 

 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by BrettGC

[Viking]

6 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Its all about proving you will not be a burden on the country meaning can support yourself. 

I have often seen this information, but I guess I don't understand what they mean by that?

I mean, in Philippines and many other countries, you can't apply for a social welfare payment check, if you run out of money, and I suppose you will not get any other help either from the Philippine authorities.

I certainly don't disagree with this requirement, I just don't understand how a foreigner without money will be a burden for the country?

Can someone explain to me?

[Northbird]

8 hours ago, Gator said:

 I sent the first page from one of my bank accounts which has a balance that is more than sufficient to cover the cost of hotels, etc. I did not include the transactions and I also blacked out my account number.....then made a copy of it and that is what I sent. 

 

So did I get it right that all you did was send a photocopy of the current balance on your bank account and that's what they accepted? 

8 hours ago, Gator said:

Do you have any relatives or friends in the USA? The reason I ask is you may want to use their address as a return address for the ROM. Then have your relative or friend DHL it to you. The consulate in San Francisco currently only accepts USPS (United States Postal Service) envelopes for returning the stamped ROM to you (you can use FedEx, UPS or DHL to send to them).

That's great to know! Unfortunately I do not have any friends or family in the USA. A quick google search told me that there are many service who deliver USPS mail to Germany - even if at quite a fee. I am wondering if there is a way to get them involved and/or explain to the consulate in San Francisco. I'm rather certain that I saw several non-US foreigners succesfully receiving their envelopes back from SA in a facebook group. Anyone here by chance got any advice on that?

 

Thank you everyone who replied to this thread. I am glad I found this forum. It is a big help.

 

 

 

[Gator]

3 hours ago, Northbird said:

So did I get it right that all you did was send a photocopy of the current balance on your bank account and that's what they accepted? 

That's great to know! Unfortunately I do not have any friends or family in the USA. A quick google search told me that there are many service who deliver USPS mail to Germany - even if at quite a fee. I am wondering if there is a way to get them involved and/or explain to the consulate in San Francisco. I'm rather certain that I saw several non-US foreigners succesfully receiving their envelopes back from SA in a facebook group. Anyone here by chance got any advice on that?

Yes, I only sent a photocopy. You are not required to send originals. But keep in mind that  I deemed the balance was more than sufficient to cover my 4 month stay.  
 

Although the USPS delivers mail to Germany I cannot say how efficient or reliable it is. A mail forwarding service might be helpful for you. You can use DHL to send your documents to them. Due to the nature of my business I travel extensively and for the past 22 years I have been using the same family owned “mailbox” service. Tomorrow or Wednesday when I get my mail I’ll ask if they offer a mail forwarding service and what the cost would be.

 

[hk blues]

9 hours ago, Viking said:

I have often seen this information, but I guess I don't understand what they mean by that?

I mean, in Philippines and many other countries, you can't apply for a social welfare payment check, if you run out of money, and I suppose you will not get any other help either from the Philippine authorities.

I certainly don't disagree with this requirement, I just don't understand how a foreigner without money will be a burden for the country?

Can someone explain to me?

Essentially you are right - I suppose it's as much about contributing to the economy as not being a drain on it. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

17 hours ago, Viking said:

I have often seen this information, but I guess I don't understand what they mean by that?

I mean, in Philippines and many other countries, you can't apply for a social welfare payment check, if you run out of money, and I suppose you will not get any other help either from the Philippine authorities.

I certainly don't disagree with this requirement, I just don't understand how a foreigner without money will be a burden for the country?

Can someone explain to me?

To me it means a foreigner must be able to support himself, pay for his own deportation  if need be. What it means is the Philippines goverment do not want to have to pay costs to keep you alive if you were sick with no money. Homeless etc. Yes I know you can say they dont do that for their own either but its just supposed to be another safeguard to prevent  foreigners being a burden. There are some about, one used to live on a bench outside Mcdonald's near me. Theres other cases I have seen in the news and social media of foreigners down on their luck.

There are other requirement's for foreigners like no  disease or being insane bla bla but several l have met over the years seem to get away with being insane 

Just going back to the guy at McDonalds, he had visits from some people who I dont know if they are a goverment group or what but to check his welfare. One time he had been bitten by something and a leg was very infected. They took him for medical help and brought him back all for free. Who they were beats me.