BrettGC

2 x 2 x 1.5 x 1000 = 6000ltr

Thankfully my wife had a positive experience when working as an OFW, but this may have something to do with the family she was working for consisted of a Dutchman and his Filipina wife and she was involved in the business side of things rather than the domestic. But yes, she does have friends and relatives that have had unfortunate experiences but they kept at it. My step-daughter, she calls me dad, is now researching the possibilities. We're both worried for her but positive at the same time.. She graduated university last year and has a good job in a call centre in LLC but wants to travel and use her degree, and of course, help the extended family. We're conflicted. We know, given the current climate, it may be a while before she has he opportunity so she may change her mind.

DVA manages their TPI pensions. DFRDB pensions are managed by Comsuper. It's like receiving money from two different employers, one has different rules to the other. DVA and Comsuper are in no way related other than they're both government. Comsuper also manages MSBS - the system that replaced DFRDB for military super, they also manage federal public sector super and is a public servant's "default" super. Comsuper basically operates as an independent super fund even though they're government owned. Your DVA pension is paid by DVA for some sort of disability or service in specific circumstances. My DFRDB pension is paid by Comsuper for service over 20 years or more and the scheme ran from 1973 to 1991 - it''s now no longer offered and hasn't been since 1991, but those that joined up under The DFRDB scheme were given the option to stay with it or switch to the new scheme - I chose to stay right where I was. ADF no longer offers pensions for service 20 years or more, all ADF members now receive superannuation the same as the rest of the Australian public with all its rules and restrictions. Unless, of course, you're eligible for a DVA payment then DVA administers that. But yes, it's ridiculous that one government authority allows payment to overseas accounts and the other doesn't.

No, I don't. I have a partical TPI payment from DVA, completely different entity, DVA do not administer DFRDB pensions. DFRDB (Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits) Pensions for long service come from ComSuper and they will not - I enquired a couple of months ago - pay into foreign accounts unless they've changed their tune since March? Ok, just called to confirm just on the off chance and hope I was wrong.. Nope, still not paying into foreign accounts..... Bugger You gave me false hope!! All good, I'll just continue as planned

Good to know as I'm stuck with an Aust based account as they won't pay my navy pension into an overseas account. Just for clarity, defence pensions in Australia are in no way connected to Centrelink but rather come from Comsuper.

Congratulations on the retirement mate! I'd be interested to know how you go with obtaining flights, they're few and far between right now. But as Scott said, a lot can change between now and October.

Hi Mate and welcome back. I'm in a similar situation to you in that I was just about set to move to PI then, well, you know COVID... I'm an Australian military pension recipient (navy) as I served over 20 years, as well as a much smaller DVA disability "allowance" related to my service in AFG. Personally my plan to have both paid into one Australian bank account that has an international presence, Citibank is my choice, but there's many others. From there, with my PHP account with them (I've already set that up), I'll be able to transfer money both ways with less fees than WU, World Remit etc. With a PHP account with Citi, I can withdraw etc without the international transfer fees due to moving money from my Citi AUD account to my PHP account with minimal fees, there's a number of international banks that offer this service eg ING etc. I'll still cop the ATM fee for those withdrawals, which I can't work out how to avoid without having an account with a PI bank, but not the monthly international transaction fee that a domestic bank charges. Anyway mate, that's my plan and my accountant tells me it will work but as you know, the best plans don't survive first contact, or they do. Regards, WOCTS Brett, retired.

Thanks for clearing that up for me mate. It's probably the path I'll go down when they open the application process again.

Ah ok, 13A is different to Balikbayan (sp?) privilege. I believe there's a number of members here that entered on Balikbayan and then converted to 13A whilst there on their 12 month stay. I can't remember any that have applied for the 13A whilst overseas, but in my previous discussions with the PI embassy here in Aust it is an option, but I can't get a straight answer from them as to whether they send you an ACR-I card with the "permanent resident" endorsement or an endorsement on your passport, or both. In the case you mention, I'm wondering what visa he actually already holds. I suspect yes, 13A.

It was my understanding that you had to be accompanied by your wife to do this.

Thanks mate, I'll email the embassy here in Australia after all.

Just before this all started I was about to start the 13A process but they stopped taking applications, I wonder if they've started again. No doubt every county's Philippine embassy will have a different response but I'll let everyone know the Australian PI consulate's response. Edit: Just read the article, not accepting new applications still. Oh well, it's a waiting game I guess. AM and I haven't seen each other since 2 days after our wedding... Absence makes the heart grow fonder....

Ease up mate, just because you've had a different experience to some doesn't mean you have to be insulting. You know nothing of our situation and yet you've decided to judge based on no knowledge or information at all. I'm not even going to clarify since you seem to know it all already and decided to bring everyone else down to your level of what quite simply appears to be bitterness and unhappiness - well based on your posts so far anyway. Or is this a troll?

The Angry Midget (wife) summed it up for me when asked if she ever wants to reside permanently in Australia: "Why would I want to live in a country where people care so much about the things that don't matter in life?". She was bought up "middle-class", is university educated and spent a fair whack of her adult life working in the west so she's seen both sides. For me, I've travelled and lived all over the world and had a similar experience to Anthony Bourdain on his first visit to SE Asia and empathise strongly with one of his quotes: “I remember the moment I first realised I’d been living my whole life in black and white. It was like discovering a colour I never knew existed before, a whole new crayon box full of colours. That was it for me, from then on; there was no putting the pieces back together, no going home. Things were different now. Asia had ruined me for my old life. “ • Anthony Bourdain – Parts Unknown, June 2014 My first visit to SE Asia, and specifically Indonesia, Thailand and The Philippines, was in 1989 at the tender age of 20. It's been a love affair ever since. Oh, and I like Filipino food if it's home cooked or in a resto, not the mass produced stuff. But I do carry my own bottle of home made chilli oil with me when we go out. I never could figure out why PI is one of the few SE countries that doesn't spice their food to "burn" level.

Ah ok :) All good mate.