MGCQ versus GCQ - my experience

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 minute ago, Old55 said:

Hi Shabby,

The forum forbids to post details about illegal activity in Philippines. We all know there are "fixers" and many officials take bribes but we always do the right thing and follow the rules as visitors to the Philippines. 

Not sure if a fixer can operate these days. You have to be accredited to process visas for clients. 

[shabbynomad70]

On 8/16/2020 at 2:13 AM, Jollygoodfellow said:

Not sure if a fixer can operate these days. You have to be accredited to process visas for clients. 

hey!   well its certainly not my intent to operate outside the law.   this outlet is two doors down from the official immigration office and corresponds daily with them.  the official office validates all of their work.  are you sure its illegal?   i will go there this week and see what i can get in response to that and report back!

[shabbynomad70]

so someone somewhere,  i have asked about the need to approve my posts.   last time was two days ago, maybe three.  how do i get off the newby list?   do i need to get a fixer!  (joke)

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 minute ago, shabbynomad70 said:

hey!   well its certainly not my intent to operate outside the law.   this outlet is two doors down from the official immigration office and corresponds daily with them.  the official office validates all of their work.  are you sure its illegal?   i will go there this week and see what i can get in response to that and report back!

You seem to misunderstand what I said and I was not replying to your post. Yes an accredited agent can process your visa. Years ago anyone used to stand around the BI and were known as fixers. Now days that is in the past. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 minutes ago, shabbynomad70 said:

so someone somewhere,  i have asked about the need to approve my posts.   last time was two days ago, maybe three.  how do i get off the newby list?   do i need to get a fixer!  (joke)

The system automatically moves you to the next group. Everyone's posts must be approved for the first few posts.  Pretty much the same as most forums to prevent spam and those who abuse the system by trying to post several nice posts to then spam us or cause issues.

From memory when you joined up it says that you will be moderated. We do not tell members how many posts you need for obvious reasons but far less post than many forums.

[Old55]

41 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

You seem to misunderstand what I said and I was not replying to your post. Yes an accredited agent can process your visa. Years ago anyone used to stand around the BI and were known as fixers. Now days that is in the past. 

I added to the confusion here (It's what I do best) I first replied to Shabby that the information he provided was for Fixers. 

[Tommy T.]

Just curious... Do you consider the tourist agents to also be fixers? Or just the  vultures that hangout outside the BI offices?

[GeoffH]

2 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Just curious... Do you consider the tourist agents to also be fixers? Or just the  vultures that hangout outside the BI offices?

I know you're not talking to me Tommy (but I'm going to give my 2 cents anyway) 

To me the big difference is a tourist agent is licensed to do certain things and one of them can be to do visa functions for thier customers where as to me a fixer is an unlicensed person who is taking on functions they should not which comes with certain risks.

[Tommy T.]

1 minute ago, GeoffH said:

To me the big difference is a tourist agent is licensed to do certain things and one of them can be to do visa functions for thier customers where as to me a fixer is an unlicensed person who is taking on functions they should not which comes with certain risks.

Thanks, Geoff... That was my perception too. I just wanted to hear it from someone else. As I have posted previously in other posts, I have had wonderful service from a travel agency here in Davao. I was just wondering about the difference. I remember lots of guys hanging out by BI, LTO and other places all offering their services. I refuse them all...

[shabbynomad70]

3 hours ago, GeoffH said:

I know you're not talking to me Tommy (but I'm going to give my 2 cents anyway) 

To me the big difference is a tourist agent is licensed to do certain things and one of them can be to do visa functions for thier customers where as to me a fixer is an unlicensed person who is taking on functions they should not which comes with certain risks.

i'm not tommy either, lol.  but i would like to comment.   this is a different culture of course, and how scammers/fixers/agents function may not meet the definitions we are used to.   and in some cases you cannot avoid them.  pre covid it was not possible in dumaguete to get an appointment at the passport (philippine) office because "scammers?" filled all the appointments.  you had to go through one of them to get an appointment.  now my thinking is that perhaps travel agents were behind that scam since you could go to a travel agent anytime and get your passport done by them including an appointment time..  and the agent was in a good position to also get a fee if they were successful getting your business to book trips.

now its true as i have aged that i have become a cynic about almost everything.  that was even before moving to the phils.  here i do not trust anything to work "right".   i don't really want to break the law here either but neither do i want to stand in line for days.  i was involved as an interested party in a civil case in quezon city many years ago.   just to get the case to appear on the court docket took a christmas gift tour of the judges office, the city attorney,  the court clerk and two others i do not remember.  just to get on the docket.  a favorable results was reportedly extra.

its just the system here.   a big sign on the wall   NO FIXERS   almost guarentees there are ways to expedite your request.

anyway,  just my thoughts on the matter.  i have learned that fixers are a way of life hee,  they expedite everything,  maybe they insult your integrity but for me, i just suck it up.   you cannot change the system here and after all time is money.  i am happy to pay 300 pesos for someone to process my smoke test and bring me the paperwork after.