United Army Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 Just wondering what a BB Stamp looks like. What I have in my passport is this.Stamped: Pilipinas Arrival Nov 12 20105J548 11-12-2011 (this is written in)All in a nice little red box.Is anyone else's different ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 Just wondering what a BB Stamp looks like. What I have in my passport is this.Stamped: Pilipinas Arrival Nov 12 20105J548 11-12-2011 (this is written in)All in a nice little red box.Is anyone else's different ? We just arrived from the U.S. Nov 14, 2010.My BB stamp is the same as yours except for my date Nov 14, 2011 is stamped with initials of the official before the date. My wife is now a Dual Citizen, her stamp on her U.S. passport just shows the arrival date. She doesn't have a new Philippine passport yet, instead she used her (IC) Identification Certificate from the San Francisco Consulate to show proof of her Dual Citizenship. She can apply for a new Philippine passport anytime. So, I'm good for another 12 months, but I do plan to apply for my Dual Citizenship before my BB stamp expires! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No name Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 Just wondering what a BB Stamp looks like. What I have in my passport is this.Stamped: Pilipinas Arrival Nov 12 20105J548 11-12-2011 (this is written in)All in a nice little red box.Is anyone else's different ?That is a BB stamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted November 17, 2010 Posted November 17, 2010 Just wondering what a BB Stamp looks like. What I have in my passport is this.Stamped: Pilipinas Arrival Nov 12 20105J548 11-12-2011 (this is written in)All in a nice little red box.Is anyone else's different ? Each immigration officer seems to stamp it differently and most I have had stamped in ours were BB and 1 year written in with the arrival date stamped in as well, but the last time we arrived was Feb of this year and things seem to be in constant flux in the PHL so the procedure and stamp may have changed but the main thing is yours shows the bottom date as one year from the arrival, so yes that is the same as a BB stamp and the 5j548 seems to be the flight you arrived on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) This issue has been resurfacing lately on other forums so I decided to share it with all you Balikbayans! Here's the question that keeps popping up!For the past 7 years we have been arriving with a return ticket good for up to 6 months and we get a balikbayan visa. Now when we move there permanently, do we also need an onward ticket or can we arrive there on a one-way fare?Here's my answer as we experienced it in the past and just a few months ago!My wife and I are both Fil/Am and we have been doing the BB stamp for 12 years now, we both have U.S. passports. The "Balikbayan Program" is not a Visa, it's a free stay and it is now called a 12 month permit with just a stamped date and the immigration official's initials in your passports good for a one year free stay in the Philippines upon arrival. Works too for foreigners with Filipino spouses traveling together to the Philippines! The one-way and follow-on ticket rule varies depending from what country one is coming from and on what airline and it seems airline employees and immigration officials perform hit and miss inspections pertaining to the follow-on ticket rule, where one may not get asked if one has a return or onward ticket! If one is a balikbayan or just a plain tourist coming from countries other than the U.S., one should have a round trip ticket or a one-way ticket with a onward ticket period! The reason why I excluded the U.S., because I've experienced one time a few years ago that Philippine Airlines were the only airline exclusively authorized to issue one-way tickets to Balikbayans from California (SFO or LAX) to Manila, regular tourists were required to have round trip tickets from the U.S. to the P.I., P.I. back to the U.S. or a one-way ticket with an on-ward ticket to elsewhere out of the Philippines! The only problem now is, do immigration officials at Manila know about the Philippine Airline one-way ticket rule from the U.S.? We just got back from our vacation a few months ago on a one-way ticket back to Manila and wasn't even asked about a follow-on ticket at the immigrations counter and our U.S. passports were stamped the 12 month permit! But when in doubt and want to play it safe, just get that cheap follow-on (throw-away ticket) to avoid any hassles with immigration! The last time I purchased a follow-on ticket was 6 yrs ago when our BB stamp was about to expire, when we just decided to take a 3 day weekend vacation in Bangkok and return to the Philippines to get another BB stamp good for another year! The last time, we didn't do the 3 day weekend vacation, instead we did the 6 month visa extensions up to 24 months! Yes, if one is a balikbayan and 60 yrs old, one can do the every 6 month visa extensions including the ACR I-card instead of doing the every 2 months visa extension, but other BI offices in different regions will tell you different and just give you the every 2 months tourist visa extension prior to your BB stamp elapsing! The memorandum concerning the 6 month visa extension for Balikbayans is still in effect and should make the BI official aware of it! I did just that by emailing the Manila main BI office and they informed my local BI official to give us the every 6 month interval visa extensions up to 24 months, which saves time and money! You don't get, if one don't ask and knowing the memorandum as a reference! And once a Balikbayan as stayed over 18 months and decides to leave the Philippines for some reason, one has to get an (EEC) Exit Clearance Certificate for P500 and pay the $35 travel tax and the P750 terminal fee prior to departure! Edited January 8, 2011 by Fil/AmArt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No name Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 This issue has been resurfacing lately on other forums so I decided to share it with all you Balikbayans! Here's the question that keeps popping up!For the past 7 years we have been arriving with a return ticket good for up to 6 months and we get a balikbayan visa. Now when we move there permanently, do we also need an onward ticket or can we arrive there on a one-way fare? In most cases, the airline want let you get on board without the onward ticket. There are some really cheap prices out there. I'm trying to recall the airlines. I'm talking under $50. Tiger air and Phil-air I think are the ones offering that. Not always. If you wait until you show up for departure, the airline may require the ticket then you'll be at their mercy.But, then again, I would have told you that you can't get on the plane without it. I've always had to have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 This issue has been resurfacing lately on other forums so I decided to share it with all you Balikbayans! Here's the question that keeps popping up!For the past 7 years we have been arriving with a return ticket good for up to 6 months and we get a balikbayan visa. Now when we move there permanently, do we also need an onward ticket or can we arrive there on a one-way fare? In most cases, the airline want let you get on board without the onward ticket. There are some really cheap prices out there. I'm trying to recall the airlines. I'm talking under $50. Tiger air and Phil-air I think are the ones offering that. Not always. If you wait until you show up for departure, the airline may require the ticket then you'll be at their mercy.But, then again, I would have told you that you can't get on the plane without it. I've always had to have one. Everything in the Philippines is subject to the discretion of the person who wishes to enforce it. When traveling with my (Filipino) wife we have never been asked for a return ticket but we also do not know what the airlines computer shows them when they look up our eticket, so they may see the return info in their computer. I believe the main thing is, better safe than sorry, so we always have a return or onward ticket even if we may not need one, but we only stay for 3 to 4 months at a time and our passport clearly shows the many in and outs we have had, yet I am not sure what may happen once we renew our passport and all the pages are then blank again. Each of us may have different outcomes based on what mood the person who is checking and how much experience they have with BB persons so best to play it safe unless you are a Filipino couple and then my guess is they really would not hassle you as much as an actual foreigner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No name Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 They do see the return ticket. It is there if bought at the same time.When I left the country on PAL and but a throw away ticket on Cebu Air I was asked for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 In most cases, the airline want let you get on board without the onward ticket. There are some really cheap prices out there. I'm trying to recall the airlines. I'm talking under $50. Tiger air and Phil-air I think are the ones offering that. Not always. If you wait until you show up for departure, the airline may require the ticket then you'll be at their mercy.But, then again, I would have told you that you can't get on the plane without it. I've always had to have one.Here is an incident to back up your statement. In late Feb 2010, my neighbor was on his way back from Florida to Cebu. He arrived at the airline check in only to be told that they would not let him on the plane because he did not have an exit ticket.There was no time, nor money to fix the problem at that moment so he had to take another flight 2 weeks later. After purchasing an exit ticket he found that the other airline never asked for nor cared if he had an exit ticket.Cost of the ticket for the misses flight, about $850.Value of the story to tell other travelers, priceless.And to this day he has been unable to get a refund on the $850. Names of the airlines have not been shown because I don't want to go next door and ask him to remind me and, really, it doesn't matter because its more about the check in clerk than the airline. They all have the same rules but some enforce them more stringently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Edited January 10, 2011 by MikeB Removed by MikeB - unverified source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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