The joys of booking a holiday to an approved DOT destination

[Freebie]

2 hours ago, manofthecoldland said:

I am not in that position fortunately (arrived Nov 2019 this time), but if I were......  the 'sensible' thing to do, would be to stay put and stay safe.  You'd have to deal when you leave, with the overstay fines and fees..... but that may be ameliorated in the future.  I do hope that it is given some regulatory thought and consideration by the government eventually. 

Normal logical empathetic thinking would be "yes lets NOT screw these guys who were unable to leave because of Covid"

Reality might be.... shall we say, different. We are all waiting to find this out.

[Snowy79]

9 minutes ago, Freebie said:

Normal logical empathetic thinking would be "yes lets NOT screw these guys who were unable to leave because of Covid"

Reality might be.... shall we say, different. We are all waiting to find this out.

My friend who was 10 months overdue on his visa extension has had his fines waived. His issue is that will only stamp his visa in Manila now and he lives in Oriental Mindoro.  He's had to use an attorney and according to him it will be 30k peso all in.  My worry for him is they are mailing his passport and he was meant to be on a flight any day now.  The last time the Post Office got a hold of his passport they had it for 3 months.

[RBM]

20 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

My friend who was 10 months overdue on his visa extension has had his fines waived. His issue is that will only stamp his visa in Manila now and he lives in Oriental Mindoro.  He's had to use an attorney and according to him it will be 30k peso all in.  My worry for him is they are mailing his passport and he was meant to be on a flight any day now.  The last time the Post Office got a hold of his passport they had it for 3 months.

As much as I sympathize with your friend snowy the situation for us slightly different, kinda stuck between the rock......There is no possibility to return to our country at this time due to unavailability of quarantine centers. Recently a kiwi was refused entry under the emergency exemptions even after providing medical evidence of his urgent need of cancer treatment........

Accordingly someone on an over stay would not even be given the time of day.....would the BI have any sympathy??? 

[Snowy79]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

As much as I sympathize with your friend snowy the situation for us slightly different, kinda stuck between the rock......There is no possibility to return to our country at this time due to unavailability of quarantine centers. Recently a kiwi was refused entry under the emergency exemptions even after providing medical evidence of his urgent need of cancer treatment........

Accordingly someone on an over stay would not even be given the time of day.....would the BI have any sympathy??? 

I have a friend in Puerto Galera.  An Aussie and he will be lucky to be around for his flight.  He is booked to exit in May but his internal organs are packing in and he is low on money.  Certainly not the country to be stuck in when you have a medical emergency.  Covid has opened my eyes to a lot of the failings here.  Unless you are wealthy, fit and within driving distance of a hospital you could be screwed.  My friend is now at the stage where there have been 5 ammendments to the flights including two cancellations. No more direct flights from Cebu now all going via Manila. 

[Tommy T.]

On 2/5/2021 at 11:23 AM, Snowy79 said:

The last time the Post Office got a hold of his passport they had it for 3 months.

Hi Snowy... Have you or your friend considered using a courier service? I used one (forgot the name, but it might have been 2GO?) for my passport renewal a year or two ago and it worked brilliantly. Not expensive  and two day express service Davao to Manila. Is that sort of service available to him?

Edited February 6, 2021 by Tommy T.

[Snowy79]

Just now, Tommy T. said:

Hi Snowy... Have you or your friend considered using a courier service? I used one (forgot the name, but it might have been 2GO?) for my passport renewal a year or two ago and it worked brilliantly. Not expensive  and two day express service Davao to Manila. Is that sort of service available to him?

He is dealing via an Attorney who allegedly has it all in hand.  I've warned him many times how promises mean zero here but he won't listen.  The last time he never listened his passport sat in the Post Office for over two months meaning he lost a highly lucrative job.  Only after telling him he must forcefully if need be make the postmaster look for it will he find it. I had previous experience with the Puerto Galaera post office where again I had to tell him to get off his butt and start looking as my item was tracked to his office.  There were piles of mail all over the place and no one sorting it out.

[hk blues]

23 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

He is dealing via an Attorney who allegedly has it all in hand.  I've warned him many times how promises mean zero here but he won't listen.  The last time he never listened his passport sat in the Post Office for over two months meaning he lost a highly lucrative job.  Only after telling him he must forcefully if need be make the postmaster look for it will he find it. I had previous experience with the Puerto Galaera post office where again I had to tell him to get off his butt and start looking as my item was tracked to his office.  There were piles of mail all over the place and no one sorting it out.

Speaking of mail, last Wednesday my postie delivered around 10 pieces of mail - postage dates varied from about 2 months to 10 months!

Ah well, better late than never as they say.