From B B to tourist

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RBM
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Posted

An acquaintance of mine whom lives quite far from an immigration office has asked me to try an clarify this, I have no face book account so unable to send a message and calling is hopeless.

His BB status was about due so he took a long trip to immigration and converted to a 2 month tourist visa plus filled out forms for a ACR card.

Unfortunately he forgot to ask if he needs a ECC clearance before leaving the country as he plans to do next month.

Perhaps one of the readers here has done similar and able answer the question.

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robert k
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I believe he will. Once you convert from the BB it is like you have been a tourist for a year already and counts against the 3 years you can stay on tourist visa. I think the important facts will be... in the country more than 6 months and on tourist visa. Also more than... 1 year and unable to get ECC at the airport. I believe he will have to travel to a major BI center ie Cebu or Manila ect to get the exit clearance within 30 days of departure. 

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Jollygoodfellow
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1 hour ago, robert k said:

I believe he will have to travel to a major BI center ie Cebu or Manila ect to get the exit clearance within 30 days of departure. 

http://www.immigration.gov.ph/faqs/emigration-clearance-certificate-ecc

I think any office can issue.

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Jollygoodfellow
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11 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

I think any office can issue.

And within 5 minutes of asking the question at the BI Facebook here is the list of which office does what. :thumbsup:

http://immigration.gov.ph/images/DirectoryOfTransactions/2017_Apr/2017Apr04_DirectoryOfTransaction.pdf

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OnMyWay
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51 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

And within 5 minutes of asking the question at the BI Facebook here is the list of which office does what. :thumbsup:

http://immigration.gov.ph/images/DirectoryOfTransactions/2017_Apr/2017Apr04_DirectoryOfTransaction.pdf

Yes, almost all offices offer ECC-A.

Before undertaking any long travel based on the list, I would suggest to try and call the particular office to verify they can do what you need.

ITGeek is reporting that Angeles can do 13a now, and that is not listed.  I hope he is correct.

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Dave Hounddriver
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Posted
5 hours ago, RBM said:

lives quite far from an immigration office

That is unfortunate, because I believe he will have to visit an immigration office to get an ECC (as others have stated).  That could be clarified by contacting the BI Facebook page and sending a message.

Not all BI offices will do an ECC for you.  Dumaguete won't, or at least they would not do it 6 months ago and they insisted I go to Cebu to get it.  Again, inquire on the Facebook page as the results are fast and the info is up to the minute. The situation is unusual so most here have likely not done that, and even if some has done it the BI changes their mind more than I change my socks.

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intrepid
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3 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

Yes, almost all offices offer ECC-A.

Before undertaking any long travel based on the list, I would suggest to try and call the particular office to verify they can do what you need.

ITGeek is reporting that Angeles can do 13a now, and that is not listed.  I hope he is correct.

Okay, now I'm a little confused.  In another topic we read when exiting on a 13a visa the ECC and RP fees could be paid at a window at the airport.  So is this true and only for 13a holders?  Tourists have to pay the ECC at a BI office?

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robert k
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5 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Any office could give you the ECC if you had been in the country 6 months but less than one year, is what I was told but Bacolod doesn't have ECC listed. Dumaguete BI made it clear to me that if I had been in the country for more than 12 months I would have to go to a larger office, this was August 2015.

Your second link does not say the Bacolod office issues ECC at all.

I would feel more secure in the knowledge if your first link mentioned anything about more than one year but Immigration has been easing up. For me it is still inconclusive and I would make more inquiry until I was completely certain. Not like BI has never omitted something and not having the correct answer could be expensive and ruin your week. But you could be right

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Dave Hounddriver
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1 hour ago, intrepid said:

Tourists have to pay the ECC at a BI office?

After 1 year YES and only at certain offices.

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OnMyWay
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2 hours ago, intrepid said:

Okay, now I'm a little confused.  In another topic we read when exiting on a 13a visa the ECC and RP fees could be paid at a window at the airport.  So is this true and only for 13a holders?  Tourists have to pay the ECC at a BI office?

Sorry, this was a new one for me too.  If you look at the ECC link JGF gave, there are two types of ECC.

ECC-A (regular): For tourists and other types too, done 72 or more hours ahead of departure at one of the BI offices that does them.

ECC-B: For 13a and some other types of visas, done at the airport.  Funny thing is, Tacloban BI says they do ECC-B in that office directory.

I don't quite understand the 6 month vs. 1 year issue that Dave and Robert are discussing, but that is for tourists, which I am not.

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