Immigration woes, I dont want to play anymore

[Gas]

7 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I was a long term tourist for 12 years.  I followed every law.  I paid every fee and fine.  I never overstayed.  I was never married there.  I never retired there.  What rule did I break?  How did I "game" the system?

EDIT:  If the BI had done to me what they are doing to JGF I would have joined one of my many friends in either Thailand, Cambodia, or Malaysia.  My point is;  If the Immigration department does not want long term tourists, why did the they make rules that encourage and authorize long term temporary visitors? The Philippine authorities are not stupid.  I am sure they realize that some people come for an extended stay before going back home.

A lot of countries issue long term/ multiple visas and then tweak the rules. 

My wife has a Canadian visa which is valid for 10. It’s states she can enter multiple times and stay for up to 6 months each time. If she went over the border to the USA for a day would they allow her to keep doing the same thing for the next ten years? I very much doubt it and she could quite easily prove that she could support herself financially. 
The Philippine tourist visa allows you to stay 36 months only. 
What gives us the right to think we can stay longer? 


 
 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Gas

[Dave Hounddriver]

30 minutes ago, Gas said:

The Philippine tourist visa allows you to stay 36 months only. 
What gives us the right to think we can stay longer? 

We cannot stay longer.  Where do you see a rule or example of people who cannot leave and come back and start over.  You gave an example of Canadians going to USA.  The only difference I see is that the rule is clearly stated that you must leave and wait 6 months until coming back.  IF the Philippines had stated a time limit before coming back then most, if not all of us, would follow it.  The "unstated' rule is you can come right back.  Are you setting yourself up as the authority on how long a person must stay out of the Philippines before returning?  Then look to the Balikbayans next.  They have the same rule, as in leave and come back the next day to start the year over.  AND that one I have seen the memorandum on.  

[Gas]

25 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

We cannot stay longer.  Where do you see a rule or example of people who cannot leave and come back and start over.  You gave an example of Canadians going to USA.  The only difference I see is that the rule is clearly stated that you must leave and wait 6 months until coming back.  IF the Philippines had stated a time limit before coming back then most, if not all of us, would follow it.  The "unstated' rule is you can come right back.  Are you setting yourself up as the authority on how long a person must stay out of the Philippines before returning?  Then look to the Balikbayans next.  They have the same rule, as in leave and come back the next day to start the year over.  AND that one I have seen the memorandum on.  

My example wasn’t about Canadians going to the US. It was my wife who is a Filipino passport holder. If you look at the following taken from the Canadian government website it seems to have a unstated rule as well. 

Multiple entry visitor visas permit the holder to travel to Canada for six months at a time as many times as they want, as long as the visa remains valid. They can be valid for up to 10 years, but the exact validity period is at the discretion of the visa officer issuing it. If you have some other status document, such as a study permit or a work permit, and are not otherwise visa-exempt, you will automatically be issued a visitor visa allowing you to enter Canada to receive your permit. Usually, this is a multiple entry visa. If you choose to temporarily leave Canada during the course of your studies or temporary work, you will not need to apply for a new visitor visa to re-enter Canada as long as your permit and visa are both still valid. 

Seems some like to continually criticize the Philippine governments immigration policies and never really look at the own countries policies. 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Gas

[Kingpin]

4 hours ago, Gator said:

You’re mixing apples and oranges. Illegal aliens crossing the border into the USA are just that - illegal.

Even if you remove the illegals from the discussion, this is still nonsense:

9 hours ago, Greglm said:

The Philippines has one of the most liberal visitor policies of any country I have been in. People have been gaming the system for years and now maybe immigration is tired of it, can't say that I blame them. US visitors game the system while complaining about illegals crossing the US southern border with Mexico. It is especially rich when they say they moved to the Philippines because the US was letting in too many people from other countries. Then they talk about a visa run. Rampant hypocrisy.

Rampant nonsense.

26 minutes ago, Gas said:

Seems some like to continually criticize the Philippine governments immigration policies and never really look at the own countries policies. 

More nonsense.

Filipinos in the US have a direct path to citizenship, so they don't need to deal with all the "visitor policy" BS. Foreigners in the Philippines acquiring citizenship is basically impossible, one of the worst of any country

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Kingpin

[CebuAndy]

10 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Maybe time to try Thailand?

 

Why not?

1 year Non O 'retirement' in Thailand requires:

800,000 THB or more in yearly income. Combination of pension and savings allowed. Proof of pension + savings should total at least 800,000 THB.

Equal 23,400 USD

Equal 33,800 AUD

Deposit in a thai bank. Can be withdrawn instantly when one no longer need 1 year permission of stay.

With proof of pension confirmed by embassy, cash deposit can be less, or none, when pension is more than 800,000 THB.

Yearly fee 1,900 THB.

Don't want to deposit so much money? Agents can assist with short time loan, and all paperwork with Imm. Passport back within 1 week. This service range from 9,000 - 25,000 Thai Baht. Been going on for 20+ years, no problem.

[Gas]

2 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Even if you remove the illegals from the discussion, this is still nonsense:

Rampant nonsense.

More nonsense.

Filipinos in the US have a direct path to citizenship, so they don't need to deal with all the "visitor policy" BS. Foreigners in the Philippines acquiring citizenship is basically impossible, one of the worst of any country

 

 

2 hours ago, Kingpin said:

Even if you remove the illegals from the discussion, this is still nonsense:

Rampant nonsense.

More nonsense.

Filipinos in the US have a direct path to citizenship, so they don't need to deal with all the "visitor policy" BS. Foreigners in the Philippines acquiring citizenship is basically impossible, one of the worst of any country

 

The last time I checked the thread is about tourist visas? 
At any point have I mentioned citizenship/residency visas in my posts??? 
 

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Gas

[Kingpin]

24 minutes ago, Gas said:

The last time I checked the thread is about tourist visas?

Check again where you expanded it to immigration policies:

3 hours ago, Gas said:

Seems some like to continually criticize the Philippine governments immigration policies and never really look at the own countries policies. 

 

[Gas]

4 minutes ago, Kingpin said:

Check again where you expanded it to immigration policies:

 

Haha you got me! 
I should have said Philippine governments tourist visas policies. 

 

[hk blues]

Nobody was refused a visa but a reminder was again given that the tourist visa system is not designed for permanent resident tourists (my own terminology).  Sure, they should rewrite the rules but we know where we are.  

I wonder if anyone has any knowledge of anyone not being given an extension under the above circumstances?  I suspect it's no more than a nuisance strategy with no real substance behind it unless some one can point to actual cases of long-term tourists being refused extensions.  

[Kingpin]

4 hours ago, hk blues said:

unless some one can point to actual cases of long-term tourists being refused extensions.  

The refusals happen for the initial visa, at the airport.