SRRV Update

[Tommy T.]

Not sure where to place this posting so I just made another.... sorry, Mods...

I went today to finally renew my SRRV. It was so painless and easy. Even the guards at the overcrowded parking area in the building, once I told them I was visiting PRA, told me to just double park behind another car in the lot. He even directed me to the floor and room (which I already knew by heart). One guy was ahead of me and, even then, the total time was maybe 20 minutes for me to renew. I pay them the money (Ouch! 20k this year!), get a receipt and I'm out the door. I was quoted about a month before the new card would be issued. They are super helpful and friendly at the Davao PRA office, it is almost surreal.

The only bad news was that. at this time, the renewals are still only good for one year. They did tell me that an individual can renew online and even make the payment online. But they also said that the payment takes much longer to be processed and sometimes there are "errors," as to where the payments might go. So, for now, I will stick with the personal annual visit and deal with it. I pay them the cash directly at the office, receive and official receipt, and they take care of making the deposit and all the rest...

So that was my experience here in Davao at PRA this morning....

[Freebie]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Not sure where to place this posting so I just made another.... sorry, Mods...

I went today to finally renew my SRRV. It was so painless and easy. Even the guards at the overcrowded parking area in the building, once I told them I was visiting PRA, told me to just double park behind another car in the lot. He even directed me to the floor and room (which I already knew by heart). One guy was ahead of me and, even then, the total time was maybe 20 minutes for me to renew. I pay them the money (Ouch! 20k this year!), get a receipt and I'm out the door. I was quoted about a month before the new card would be issued. They are super helpful and friendly at the Davao PRA office, it is almost surreal.

The only bad news was that. at this time, the renewals are still only good for one year. They did tell me that an individual can renew online and even make the payment online. But they also said that the payment takes much longer to be processed and sometimes there are "errors," as to where the payments might go. So, for now, I will stick with the personal annual visit and deal with it. I pay them the cash directly at the office, receive and official receipt, and they take care of making the deposit and all the rest...

So that was my experience here in Davao at PRA this morning....

Much better than my renewal in main PRA office in Makati last December which I think took about two hours.

After Id paid, the clerk said " come back in one hour lunch break".

Advised him the govt offices no longer were supposed to close for lunch breaks... he didnt know how to handle that comment so just walked off. Glad you had a way better experience .

[BLM]

On 4/25/2023 at 3:52 PM, Tommy T. said:

Not sure where to place this posting so I just made another.... sorry, Mods...

I went today to finally renew my SRRV. It was so painless and easy. Even the guards at the overcrowded parking area in the building, once I told them I was visiting PRA, told me to just double park behind another car in the lot. He even directed me to the floor and room (which I already knew by heart). One guy was ahead of me and, even then, the total time was maybe 20 minutes for me to renew. I pay them the money (Ouch! 20k this year!), get a receipt and I'm out the door. I was quoted about a month before the new card would be issued. They are super helpful and friendly at the Davao PRA office, it is almost surreal.

The only bad news was that. at this time, the renewals are still only good for one year. They did tell me that an individual can renew online and even make the payment online. But they also said that the payment takes much longer to be processed and sometimes there are "errors," as to where the payments might go. So, for now, I will stick with the personal annual visit and deal with it. I pay them the cash directly at the office, receive and official receipt, and they take care of making the deposit and all the rest...

So that was my experience here in Davao at PRA this morning....

20k a year to renew?

[Freebie]

365 USD renewal fee  @55 to peso... yes.. 20K

[Snowy79]

One thing to add to Visa expences that many don't think about is the time wasting ad possible travel and accomodation.  My SRRV costs me about 825 peso annualy as ex forces and can be done online, for others it's about 20k peso.

I know of others living in the sticks on tourist visas who have to go to the nearest city which could be many hours away and at times stay overnight in a hotel, you're looking at about 3k every two months plus travel and hotels, it soon adds up . 

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

One thing to add to Visa expenses that many don't think about is the time wasting ad possible travel and accommodation. 

Definitely something to consider.  When I lived on Biliran Island and the renewals were 2 months apart it was a real hassle going to Cebu for a party week every second month so I could renew my visa 

But when I lived in Dumaguete I just went twice a year and got the 6 month visa.

[BrettGC]

10 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

One thing to add to Visa expences that many don't think about is the time wasting ad possible travel and accomodation.  My SRRV costs me about 825 peso annualy as ex forces and can be done online, for others it's about 20k peso.

I know of others living in the sticks on tourist visas who have to go to the nearest city which could be many hours away and at times stay overnight in a hotel, you're looking at about 3k every two months plus travel and hotels, it soon adds up . 

Yep, it's something we factor into our budgets as we're 2.5-3 hours from our nearest BI office.  

6 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Definitely something to consider.  When I lived on Biliran Island and the renewals were 2 months apart it was a real hassle going to Cebu for a party week every second month so I could renew my visa 

But when I lived in Dumaguete I just went twice a year and got the 6 month visa.

Same, 6 months that is.  Plus the annual tourist ACR-I card fee of about 5-6k or so. 

[Tommy T.]

On 4/29/2023 at 4:48 PM, BLM said:

20k a year to renew?

Unfortunately, yup.

Perhaps is less for the retired military version? Mine is just the "regular" full-price version.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Tommy T.

[mountainside]

7 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

Perhaps is less for the retired military version?

Yup.  $10 USD per year for military veterans and retirees.  Glad your renewal went well.

[Tommy T.]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:24 PM, Freebie said:

365 USD renewal fee  @55 to peso... yes.. 20K

Please correct me if I am wrong.... But I think that annual rate is close to the tourist visa rate?