Which Type Of Phils Visa Do I Need To Apply For?

[Phileas Fogg]

Hi again Guys, It's been a long time but, fingers crossed, I've just accepted an offer on selling my house here in UK and at long last I can emigrate to Phils. I am a British national, can somebody please advise me of which type of Philippines visa I need to apply for to remain in Philippines on a permanent basis? Also ... I recall reading previously that, as part of the visa application process, I need to prove that I have no criminal record which, here in UK, is always difficult to prove ... what form of proof of no criminal record will the Philippines consulate accept? Thanks in advancePF

[Mr Lee]

Hi again Guys, It's been a long time but, fingers crossed, I've just accepted an offer on selling my house here in UK and at long last I can emigrate to Phils. I am a British national, can somebody please advise me of which type of Philippines visa I need to apply for to remain in Philippines on a permanent basis? Also ... I recall reading previously that, as part of the visa application process, I need to prove that I have no criminal record which, here in UK, is always difficult to prove ... what form of proof of no criminal record will the Philippines consulate accept? Thanks in advancePF

One choice might be the SRRV assuming you are not married to a Filipina. Otherwise most single people end up staying on a tourist visa and renewing every two months. They also have Quota Visas but those are very limited. Paul Ancienrocka runs Cebu Expat Services so you can always contact him, or possibly he will post a reply here when he reads your post. As for what proof of no criminal record, I believe that would be a local police clearance from where you live, but I hope someone else will chime in who has had to get one in the UK and have personal experience. My wife and I (she is a Filipina) stay on the balikbayan privilege, so I do not have first hand experience with visas, I only know people who have had, so therefore I do not wish to lead you astray by my getting info second hand.

[JJReyes]

If you are married to a Filipina or intend to marry one, there is the 13a spousal visa. You can arrive on a 21 days no-fee tourist visa and then pay additional fees for visa renewals. If you are single and intend to remain single, my recommendation is to visit the Philippine Retirement Authority website regarding their SRRV program. You need a police and an NBI (Philippine National Bureau of Investigation) clearance. It is not clear if the police clearance is from your home country or the Philippines. NBI should be an automatic clearance unless there is someone with the same or similar name as yours who has committed a crime. One strategy is to apply for the SRRV after your arrival. There are agencies who will take care of the paperwork for a fee that already includes Christmas gifts as a token of appreciation for a smooth transaction. Christmas is year round in the Philippines.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I wonder why no one has yet mentioned the most flexible way? Many people, like myself, are perpetual tourists. We just renew out tourist visa every 2 months (which ends up costing under 24K pesos a year) and every year or 16 months or so we take a vacation in Hong Kong or wherever you like (just a day or two is enough) then coming back and starting the process all over. Who knows, maybe I one day I will take a vacation to a place I will like more than here. It hasn't happened yet. Sorry Lee. Upon rereading I see you DID mention it.

Otherwise most single people end up staying on a tourist visa and renewing every two months.

Edited August 23, 2011 by Dave Hounddriver

[Phileas Fogg]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I had been expecting a more simplied and correct way of doing things but alas. I have also been in contact with a Czech national friend in tthe same remote island location as where I shall be living, it is 2+ hours from/to the nearest mainland city of Surigao which is circa 3.5 hours on the bus from the next city of Butuan. He's doing the renewing of a tourist visa every 2 months but he made a very disparaging remark about the officer in Surigao, something about the officer's mother being a f**ker, thus every 60 days he travels to/from Butuan which, besides the visa fee, it's 2 boat rides, 4 or more city taxi's, 2 bus rides and a night in a hotel. With regards to the onward air ticket we need to have, and once his initial ticket return date came and went, he just waits for Cebu Pacific's promo fares to come along, he made me laugh because he's bought a ticket from Clark to Kota Konabalu and he doesn't even know where Kota Konabalu is :) He's never going to fly the route, he's just going to use the flight booking for his next few visa applications before he makes a next cheap flight booking that he's never going to fly either. A nuisance but if that's what he's doing then we can do it together in the future and accompany each other on the visa trips. By the way, if anyone wants an excellent priced balikbayan box service in UK then LBC Express are excellent and offer a, pretty much, UK nationwide service from their Acton, London base. Their website is a nightmare so it takes a phone call but once on the phone they are very good. They only do one size of (jumbo) box which equates to 7.64 cubic feet and to Manila it costs GBP55, Luzon GBP65 and Visayas or Mindanao GBP70 and this includes dropping the empty boxes at a UK address and picking them up again, full, a week or two later and it seems they deliver to most, even small island, locations in Philippines. Thanks again guys.PF

[ancienrocka]

Hi PF, You can check out your options for staying here as a permanent resident or quasi-PR at Not at this address /your-visa-options.php . We process the 2 monthly visa extensions of many people like your friend who live on remote islands or a long way from an Immigration office. These people just leave their passport with us and send the money for their extension when needed. For those who prefer to keep their passport we use LBC to get it to and from each other. Each of the visas mentioned above has it's good and bad points - do you have the money to tie up to obtain the SRRV or are you too old to reap the benefits of an expensive quota visa?

[Phileas Fogg]

Thanks Acienrocka, So those prices on your website, are those the prices that include whatever charges you may make, i.e. is that the retail price including everything? How does one send payment, is this via Western Union, LBC, or? Just for the inconvenience factor your services certainly sound appealing and I'll certainly pass your info on to my Czech national friend.PF

[ancienrocka]

Thanks Acienrocka, So those prices on your website, are those the prices that include whatever charges you may make, i.e. is that the retail price including everything? How does one send payment, is this via Western Union, LBC, or? Just for the inconvenience factor your services certainly sound appealing and I'll certainly pass your info on to my Czech national friend.PF

The prices quoted are the actual receipted charges of the BoI - we charge an additional 1200p per renewal. Most people just use Western Union to send the money to us. Not at this address /wp-content/uploads/2011/02/visaextensioncost.jpg The above link may be useful for forum members who need to understand what their next extension will cost, but bear in mind this is a simplified chart and there will be a few minor exceptions such as when you renew after 59 days but already have a valid ACR card. Edited August 25, 2011 by ancienrocka

[Jollygoodfellow]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I had been expecting a more simplied and correct way of doing things but alas. I have also been in contact with a Czech national friend in tthe same remote island location as where I shall be living, it is 2+ hours from/to the nearest mainland city of Surigao which is circa 3.5 hours on the bus from the next city of Butuan. He's doing the renewing of a tourist visa every 2 months but he made a very disparaging remark about the officer in Surigao, something about the officer's mother being a f**ker, thus every 60 days he travels to/from Butuan which, besides the visa fee, it's 2 boat rides, 4 or more city taxi's, 2 bus rides and a night in a hotel. With regards to the onward air ticket we need to have, and once his initial ticket return date came and went, he just waits for Cebu Pacific's promo fares to come along, he made me laugh because he's bought a ticket from Clark to Kota Konabalu and he doesn't even know where Kota Konabalu is :hystery: He's never going to fly the route, he's just going to use the flight booking for his next few visa applications before he makes a next cheap flight booking that he's never going to fly either. A nuisance but if that's what he's doing then we can do it together in the future and accompany each other on the visa trips. By the way, if anyone wants an excellent priced balikbayan box service in UK then LBC Express are excellent and offer a, pretty much, UK nationwide service from their Acton, London base. Their website is a nightmare so it takes a phone call but once on the phone they are very good. They only do one size of (jumbo) box which equates to 7.64 cubic feet and to Manila it costs GBP55, Luzon GBP65 and Visayas or Mindanao GBP70 and this includes dropping the empty boxes at a UK address and picking them up again, full, a week or two later and it seems they deliver to most, even small island, locations in Philippines. Thanks again guys.PF

I got bad news for your friend,if he does not fly out how does he expect to get his passport stamped to show he was out of the country? You have to depart and that's how it is.And further more if he is that disrespectful to anyone in the Philippines especially a Bi officer I can only assume he has no brains and it shows now that he has to make extra long trips to renew.Some people just dont get it and I am sorry if my words offend you about your friend.

[Phileas Fogg]

Thanks again Acienrocka, If I want to disregard the 21 non-visa days and enter Phils, from day 1, on my first 59/60 day tourist visa can I buy that on arrival at Manila or Cebu airport or do I need to get it before leaving my own country? Hi Boss Man, No offence taken by me, my friend comes across as a faitly relaxed and easy going character so I can only presume he feels he has good reason to say what he said. Personally, I've always had it in mind to leave Phils every year or so, before even knowing of such an immigration requirement, for a trip back to Europe so I won't be busting that immigration regulation. I guess visa's might get easier, less complicated, if I marry my girlfriend, I know that she would like to get married although she doesn't put any such pressure to do so upon me.