SRRV or 13A visa?

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 minutes ago, Walanapera said:

But with the right connections and right amount of money, I tend to believe that it can still be done.

That sounds like you support illegal corruption.  If so, please do not promote it on this forum.

[Walanapera]

35 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

That sounds like you support illegal corruption.  If so, please do not promote it on this forum.

It was never my intent to support illegal corruption. BTW: Is there really anything that can be considered to be legal corruption?

I just wanted to point out that it's possible, rather than nearly impossible, to obtain Philippine citizenship if one chose to go down that path. Please accept my apologies for the misunderstanding. Going forward, I will avoid such confusions on this forum.

[RBM]

5 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

That sounds like you support illegal corruption.  If so, please do not promote it on this forum.

Where does one draw the line here.

We recently went through the drama of changing over ownership to a car we purchased, paying illegal corruption still took a few months. Friends tried to do it legally, they started months before us, finally gave up and paid.....Ended up costing them double what we paid time and money.

Yesterday renewed my Filipino drivers licence, same applied how ever on a lesser scale, took most of the morning. Surprised they actually gave me 10 years....I be lucky if driving next 2 years.

[Dave Hounddriver]

17 minutes ago, RBM said:

Where does one draw the line here.

Its a Sine Wave with more leniency given to those with a track record on the forum.  I would say that a firm line would have to be drawn on corruption that may result in deportation or jail if caught.  For example, people often talk of slipping a traffic enforcer 500 pesos for ignoring a right turn in an illegal spot.  On the other hand, promoting corrupt BI methods can get a person locked up or deported if caught.

The most important thing for the forum owner to consider, is whether publicly discussing or condoning something illegal would get the forum shut down, or worse.

[hk blues]

9 hours ago, Walanapera said:

SRRV or 13A visa?

Why not consider getting a Philippine citizenship as another option?

On a personal note, I'm a 13A person who has to pay all of my back 13A Annual Fees whenever I return to the Philippines.

 

 

Why bother going through all those hoops when there is the much easier alternative of 13A/SRRV?  

It sounds like 13A is not the correct option for you if you are continually unable to meet the annual reporting requirements.  

[Kingpin]

9 hours ago, Old55 said:

Filipino citizenship is nearly impossible to obtain. 

Indeed, and that would change quick if the reverse were true in Western nations for Filipinos...

On 10/27/2022 at 10:39 AM, PaulNeb86 said:

Other than the costs involved which visa is the better choice for an expat married

Cost is main reason 13a is better, but beyond that, 13a is also easier as it doesn't require police clearance from your home nation, likely because you've already been vetted by a citizen.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Kingpin

[PaulNeb86]

13 hours ago, Walanapera said:

SRRV or 13A visa?

Why not consider getting a Philippine citizenship as another option?

Fair question with two issues.

The first issue is the five year residency requirement to obtain Philippine citizenship. I don't know if they would count time in the country under a Balikbayan visa or not. If not, I would still need to obtain a permanent residence visa of some sort.

The second issue is that based on what I read on the website, I would be required to renounce my US citizenship to acquire Filipino citizenship. That is a very expensive (thousands of US$) and messy process. Additionally, the US does not have any process for a natural born US citizen to retain or reacquire their US citizenship after being naturalized in another country. Yeah, the US <expletive deleted> on that.

Since I'm both retired Navy and old enough to draw Social Security. The negatives outweigh the positives. I did look into it though.  

[PaulNeb86]

3 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Indeed, and that would change quick if the reverse were true in Western nations for Filipinos...

Cost is main reason 13a is better, but beyond that, 13a is also easier as it doesn't require police clearance from your home nation, likely because you've already been vetted by a citizen.

Not that I haven't heard grumbling about the lack of visa reciprocity. The non-requirement of a police clearance from your nation of origin is a big plus though.

[PaulNeb86]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

It sounds like 13A is not the correct option for you if you are continually unable to meet the annual reporting requirements.  

Annual reporting is done at BI, correct? It's only a 90 minute van ride from Catbalogan to Tacloban. I wouldn't call that particularly difficult. If I had to travel to Manila, that would be a little different, but it's still only an hour plane ride added to the trip time. 

[Mike J]

6 minutes ago, PaulNeb86 said:

Fair question with two issues.

The first issue is the five year residency requirement to obtain Philippine citizenship. I don't know if they would count time in the country under a Balikbayan visa or not. If not, I would still need to obtain a permanent residence visa of some sort.

The second issue is that based on what I read on the website, I would be required to renounce my US citizenship to acquire Filipino citizenship. That is a very expensive (thousands of US$) and messy process. Additionally, the US does not have any process for a natural born US citizen to retain or reacquire their US citizenship after being naturalized in another country. Yeah, the US <expletive deleted> on that.

Since I'm both retired Navy and old enough to draw Social Security. The negatives outweigh the positives. I did look into it though.  

Five years if married to a Philippine citizen, but ten years if not.  You are also required to be fluent in one of the Philippine national languages.  A person does have to renounce US citizenship, but that renunciation is not recognized by the US.  You would become a dual citizen unless you went to extraordinary lengths to renounce your US citizenship.   Standing in front of a Philippine judge or BIR official to renounce will not cause you to actually lose US citizenship.  I am not aware of a single US citizen who has chosen to obtain Philippine citizenship.  The only real benefit would be the ability to legally own land, firearms, and vote.   SSRV or 13A is definitely the preferred method of obtaining permanent residency in most expat's opinion.