JRC consultancy service.

[Peaceful John]

20 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Thanks for the warning, I appreciate you taking the time.

Alarm bells are going through my head already. 
In my initial contact with them I explained that I am needing a 4 week visa extension before heading back to Australia at the end of this month.

They replied that the fee would be 1500php, not bad considering that the trip to the local BI would be 3000php plus a day lost in travel there and back.

I then sent my receipt for my last extension to which they replied that I needed to send them 10,500 php for a ACR card, so I sent them a scan of my current card which expires in April, explaining also that the official at the BOI office stated I would be exempt from that charge because my card doesn’t expire until April, they replied that I should send them the aforesaid figure just in case.

The clincher came when I searched for their details on orbit remit when I searched for their bank details and the details was some obscure outfit in Cebu.

My gut feeling is to forget it and hire a driver to go to the BOI satellite office when the time comes.

I could be wrong but….

BINGO One!  Everything you are experiencing I experienced also in one form or another.  The alarm bells for me were flashing like a Christmas tree in my head, but foolishly I didn't listen to my "gut" until it was too late to save my money.  They have a very bad habit of "misquoting" fees or forgetting to tell you about them.  I also experienced the "send it just in case we need it" line too.  So I ask if you don't need it, how do I get my money back.  He told me it would be taken off my final bill.  I said, "what final bill"???  I thought you said your fee was $400???  Oh well, enough of my ranting.  But I do think Brett might have a point.  It could be the office I was dealing with?  Good luck to you One and don't ignore your "gut".

[Onemore52]

To use an old saying used by Navy Cooks “ The thick plottens”.

[fillipino_wannabe]

13 hours ago, longway said:

Do you mind saying who you used and where?

Honestly I can't remember the name lol, my wife sorted it all out. Someone in Quezon city

[BrettGC]

I'll keep everyone updated with my experience with JRC Dumaguete beginning in March.  As I've said, I know two guys that had their13a processed by them as well as @Eddie1 with his SRRV and they're more than happy.  No mention of withholding the original determination for probationary to force them to use them for permanent at all in either for the 13a cases I know of.  

I know some people scratch their heads as to why use an agency at all for a 13a; I scratch my head as to why use an agency for tourist/9a extensions when the JRC office is just next door to BI in Dumguete, but that's their decision.  Everyone has their own reasons for doing anything that is valid to them; none of us have the right to judge them based on our own experience without knowledge of the someone elses paradigm.  

[jimeve]

I did both my probationary an permanent myself, I must admit it was a bit of a ball ache but saved myself some money.

Next year my permanent expires got quoted 15k next door to BI Dumaguete. Wife says she will do it for me. I hate going to Cebu City.

[Mike J]

11 hours ago, jimeve said:

I did both my probationary an permanent myself, I must admit it was a bit of a ball ache but saved myself some money.

Next year my permanent expires got quoted 15k next door to BI Dumaguete. Wife says she will do it for me. I hate going to Cebu City.

You and I are both on the same page Jim.  Have never used an agency for any BI requirements.   I also dislike going to Cebu City, only make trips now for medical, dental, or to meet up with friends.  My wife will do my annual report using a limited power of attorney.

[hk blues]

18 hours ago, jimeve said:

I did both my probationary an permanent myself, I must admit it was a bit of a ball ache but saved myself some money.

Next year my permanent expires got quoted 15k next door to BI Dumaguete. Wife says she will do it for me. I hate going to Cebu City.

 

6 hours ago, Mike J said:

You and I are both on the same page Jim.  Have never used an agency for any BI requirements.   I also dislike going to Cebu City, only make trips now for medical, dental, or to meet up with friends.  My wife will do my annual report using a limited power of attorney.

Based on my local BI we can do the AR using P.O.A. but not the ACR renewal as it requires electronic photo and fingerprint capturing so needs to be done in person.  Of course, there may be certain exceptions and even local differences.

[jimeve]

20 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Based on my local BI we can do the AR using P.O.A. but not the ACR renewal as it requires electronic photo and fingerprint capturing so needs to be done in person.  Of course, there may be certain exceptions and even local differences.

Cebu must be different, the agents do everything, all I have to do is give them my passport, and everything that is required. 

No mention of photo and fingerprint.

[Coffee]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:04 PM, Peaceful John said:

One, I strongly caution you about doing any kind of business with them.  In my dealings with them they displayed questionable honesty, did not follow through on their assurances, they require their fee upfront, then after they got it from me, I could no longer reach or get any response from the agents or reps and the only person I could get to respond to me was a secretary who knew absolutely nothing about obtaining an SSRV, or anything related to it.  I was able to get an email response from the CEO, and I viewed him as nothing but a parrot who also couldn't answer simple questions about my SSRV process.  I ask for my money returned and they refused all or any part of it but admitted they had done nothing in regard to my processing, and also admitted they had "dropped the ball on my application" but said (CEO) the staff would discuss the "shortfalls" in my application to ensure it wouldn't happen again.  The manager in Cebu was handling my application, and again, after he got my money, he would not respond to my messages and refused to accept my phone calls.  For 3 weeks of calling or messaging every day there was either no answer or I was told he was not in the office that day.  I ask the CEO about this, and his response was, "I'm not sure where he's at".  When I ask the secretary about the processing I was supposed to accomplish, she gave me the wrong, or incomplete information on 4 different steps causing me to waste over a month of processing time as it all had to be done over again.  If you have additional questions, feel free to message me.  Bottomline, I lost over $600 ($400 in the 10 days) trying to work with them, and once I interacted with the CEO, I totally gave up on them as I had no confidence whatsoever that they knew, or even cared, about my application.  It's hard to believe that any reputable agency could actually FORGET about a client (right after I paid the initial fee).  So, I pursued my needs on my own and realized everything that was required to get the Visa, I had to do it myself anyway.  The only thing they do for the fee is take your money.  Nothing else.  I recommend you try it on your own or seek another agency.  There are hundreds of them that will actually try to help you and will actually return your calls or messages.  If you do nothing else, insist that you get EVERYTHING in writing and that they give you a certified list of things/items that they promise to accomplish for the fee you are paying.  You will see very quickly that any tangible items on the list are nonexistent, except for the bank deposit of the money to the Gov Agency for the VISA.  For some strange reason they DEMAND you give the money to them to deposit versus going to the bank and depositing it yourself (so you're sure the thousands of dollars you are paying the government for this has actually been deposited). To this day I still find this demand very strange.  If after you see what you're actually paying them for, if that's OK with you, then it's your decision.   Good luck to you, my friend.

j

That sucks!

I know a couple of people that went through the PRA (https://pra.gov.ph/). There is a couple of agents that work there to do your paperwork for free. You do have to make the deposit and I'm sure you have to do a few other things that are not that hard to accomplish.

The end result is that everything is done correctly and timely (timely is important!). Takes a month or two to finish it, but you never have to worry about something coming up later.

 

[Peaceful John]

1 hour ago, Coffee said:

That sucks!

I know a couple of people that went through the PRA (https://pra.gov.ph/). There is a couple of agents that work there to do your paperwork for free. You do have to make the deposit and I'm sure you have to do a few other things that are not that hard to accomplish.

The end result is that everything is done correctly and timely (timely is important!). Takes a month or two to finish it, but you never have to worry about something coming up later.

 

Interesting Coffee, thanks for the info.  Maybe they do things like put your name one the application, etc, but I was informed by the agency and PRA that every step of the SRRV process has to be done by the individual.  I.E. NBI check, Medical check, home country LE check, photos, etc.  Proxy or a Fixer doing it for you is not permitted and I had to prove who I was at each step.  As with everything, I could be wrong, but an opportunity such as this never presented itself to me.  When I completed all of my applications, it was a 4 month+ wait for the PRA to complete their part.  Total time would take a little over 8 months, but again, this was in my case.  There was 2 checks, home country Law Enforcement clearance and another (I forget what that other was ), that they gave me an exception to complete it the next time I was in the US (but I had to have it done within a year and sent to PRA if my memory serves me correctly).  In any case, I missed a timesaving opportunity if PRA could accomplish some of these for me.  Thanks again for the info.

j