My next Visa run is less than six months away. Where am I gonna go? I don’t know yet but time to plan, at least the early part of it. Maybe you can help me. I could use some help.
Hong Kong
We have several direct flights via Cebu Pacific to other countries now. One even includes the USA. If that continues, I’ll have lower priced fares. That should help.
My first choice would be to return to the states but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that. I can get to the West Coast of the USA for about what it would cost me for an entire trip to Hong Kong, including hotel. The fee to the USA would cover only the air fair. Then I have to fly to the other side of the country. In the USA though, time there should be cheaper as I would have no hotel fees. Some how though, there will always be more to spend than I counted on.
I could go to Bangkok and back for less than $500. Hong Kong a bit more I’m not feeling too good about Bangkok right now. They had problems just before my last trip. Now they just got over some more. This time the way the trouble was put down, its going to lead to even more trouble I think. Maybe not, much of the command staff of the Red Shirts didn’t survive the event. Might be a while before that problem returns but I think it will return and it will be far worse.
Hong Kong is looking like my best choice but there is a lot of knowledge out there among the expats. I saved a lot of money on my last trip from their help. Perhaps, I will be lucky again this trip. I’m not going to buy early this time. Last time I did only to watch prices fall a lot.
I’d love to find someone to go with me but had no luck at all with that before. That is another expat that needs to make his run too. What do we mean by run? We are able to be in the Philippines for 18 16 months and get our VISA extended every two months. After 18 16 months we gotta leave. We can come back after 3 days. Failure to do so means you pay heavy fines before you are allowed to leave for three days. Then you are referred to as an “over stayer.” There are likely LOTS of those in the country that never leave.
Is it really three days? I hear of so many people that fly to Thailand and then return immediately. I believe they do that. The BI website says three days and my local travel agent and VISA facilitator indicate its three days. I think the law is three days. Perhaps BI does not enforce that.
In theory, there is a 24 month option rather than 18. Jessie asked about it at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Cebu City, they told her it was only 18 16 months. No way to go longer. So I’m quite confused. I need to look at the website and see if Manila will tell me more. I know of someone that got it, but I don’t have first hand knowledge of it. Anyone else?
In the Philippines, I’ve never had anyone ask me for a passport, except when flying, that I recall. When I went to Bangkok, the hotel inspected it for a long time. If they did that more here, probably be fewer “over stayers.” They may make that one word here though, I can’t remember.
I’d love to hear your suggestions about where to go and do it cheaply. My money has not been going as far as I would like to see it go lately. Wouldn’t it be nice if that were not the case. Let me hear from you and if you want to try to travel together, let me know. We can try to work it out. Right now, I’m planning a trip in October or November.
Tagged with: Cebu • Living In The Phlippines • Travel • Visa
Filed under: Expats Living in Cebu
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How bout ya 2 marry ,do it if ur not married yet. 2nd thought is make the hong kong choice. good luck buddy.
Awww and I thought you wanted to marry me. I’m so hurt now. LOL
You married yet ? Huh? No?
PS I forgot to say, I have to stay out of the country for only 3 days.
Rusty, why 3 days. From what I’ve heard you can go to Bangkok and turn right around and come back. Wouldn’t that be alot cheaper than Hong Kong ?
Hey Jerry, yes it would be cheaper and from what I can tell, many people get away with doing that.
That however, isn’t the law that published around the net. I’m afraid to test it.
What about Siapan its a U.S. comwealth and about a 3 hr. flight.
You know i hate to admit my geographical ignorance but I’m going to have to see where it is. Does Cebu Pacific have direct flights. What I’ve been looking at is Cebu Pacific’s flight and hotel packages they have some good deals there.
Hi Rusty, Bit hard to find a place to leave a reply on this website, but hopefully this reaches you.
I met a UK guy in Phils last time down. He came to the Phils from Thailand. Hated the Phils in just two weeks. Now located in Borneo, and he says the place where he is (northern tip) is fantastic, prices are right, and untouched beaches. I see Cebu Pacific flies there too.
Not too sure if this is being published, so will leave out names. You know how to get hold of me. Keep in touch. John
You should have been able to reply to my reply or to my post.
The website is a bit funky right now. In fact I just broke it.
Working on it.
I see why it is hard. For now, if you click on the title of the article it will take you to something you expect to see.
This will all be changing
I have gone to Hong Kong for two days and came back. Now, however, I don’t even bother. I am 8 months overstay and I will be leaving in November (and probably never coming back), so I will just fix my visa stuff 3 weeks before I leave. I heard its about P3000 plus P500 per month of overstay but you might want to confirm that.
You also have to pay the express fee several times for each month you over stayed.
Its very expensive. I wont be doing it. Can always pay someone to do it. I think my GF will start offering that service to Expats.
Things didn’t go well for you?
I’m surprised no one called me out on this but its 16 months, not 18 months.
Now, I’m a little unclear on something and I’m going to find out. At 16 months can I get one more extension for two months? If so, it is 18 months. The BI site says 16 months and I think that’s when I gotta go.
That would fit with my last trip. I came to the PI on Feb and left in May which would be 15 months. So I probably gotta go two months sooner than I thought.
I’m an American living here for 15 months. The local BI office told me that after
16 months, you can extend for an additional 4 month in Manila. I’ve heard that
its fairly easy. You submit an application, a notarized letter requesting an
extension, and any supporting evidence to back up your reasoning. You
wait a day, return to the office and check to see if you’ve been approved.
Before spending money on a flight, hotel fees, etc.. why not visit Manila
for a day or so, and see if you can get approved for another 4 months.
I’ll be doing that in a couple of weeks.
The cost of for me going to Manila would outweigh the benefits.
The person I know of that did it, did it by sending a letter, I think from Mindanao. I got my information third hand though. Things might have become lost when passing through hands.
I think what you’re saying is correct though.
Please let us know how it goes. I’ll be booking my trip soon. I suppose I need to find out about entry requirements to Hong Kong. If it gets complicated, then I’ll go to Bangkok again.
Let us know how the extension goes for you.
Hi Rus, I went to Bangkok in Feb, only for 2 weeks though. I loved it!
The language barrier can be quite hilarious when it was not costing me a lot of $$$$$. 
The only hitch I had was the language barrier. One taxi driver took me for a long drive because of a misunderstanding. Luckily, I figured we were lost before we ended up at the Thai-Cambodian border – lol!
Christine, Thai cabbies are notorious for that. It wasn’t a misunderstanding. He did it intentionally. Same thing happened to me. I asked to go to Pizza Hut and he took me to a nice fish place.
Hi rusty, Ihave made the visa run to bangkok and hongkong they are both the same very easy to enter no hassles.Took my girl friend with me the tried to give her hard time in Manila but no hassles anywhere else,
Did they not want to let her leave? Why do they do that? Fear of human trafficking? I’ve heard of this a few times but I have never understood why they had such problems.
thanks for the info on HK My gf doesn’t have a valid birth certificate. I’ve been fussing at her to get it fixed for three years, still no luck. (
I bought a ticket for my gf to HK and they offloaded her at Cebu. She had a working visa but quit her job in HK. She is single 24yo beautiful lady and they think all of them are going to work in the sex trade. $700 later for non-refundable air and non-refundable hotel (my ignorance). BTW, she met a philippino guy and is in love and getting married
Yep, I don’t think I’d buy a non refundable ticket for a Filipina leaving the country. Chances are too high that she’ll be stopped from leaving. Unless they have a lot of cash and can show they can support themselves, they are often denied exit. Very common these days.
Sorry that happened to you.
Me again Rusty,
As you can see I have been at this for a while. Why are you not looking into a new retirement visa. I am going to apply for it before I leave the US. All you do is check in at immigration once a year No flights out of the country ever or so I was told.
Rik
I don’t have the cash or I would certainly take that option. It is without a doubt the best way to go. Or get married. If I had 10K in the bank, it would be the option I took. I need to work harder on the net, I suppose.
Happy to see you bloging again. Have you thought about a flight to Guam?
I have thought about it. Unless there is a direct flight from Cebu though, it wouldn’t be worth the extra cash to go to Manila first. Why Guam?
visa extension i am a retired seaman been in angeles city for seven years, shipping out the first four and the last two retired. angeles city is landlocked and i must spend time with my wife and her kids so i have traveled less than i want. i would like to find a coastal spot where i can hideout for a week or so and not pay an exorbitant amount. check spelling on that one.
ok visa, i always extend here 2 month at a crack. the best i did was a year. i placed a note in my passport and 50 usd, the coustom lady stamped me for a year. manila only, at clark here i had my wife and my note and they gave the money back and told my wife” he can stay as long as he likes, just pay every month. ha. well how does the retirement visa work, i heard you must have 50g in the bank?
Hi John, I would recommend Bantayan Island. You can get a room there for around P1000 or less. You can pay a lot more too.
Check out http:/bantayanislandtours.com for more information.
The retirement visa requires a pretty large sum. That’s all I remember off the top of my head.
There are different flavors of the SRRV program. It probably will change so refer to the link below. It does range from $1,500 to $50,000 deposit. For me the clasic works, I am 50 and can show $800 plus pension per month (single). This requires a $10,000 deposit. The kicker for me is the initial $1,400 adoption fee and the $360 annual fee. If you don’t want to work or study (which the SRRV allows but is restricted) and you like taking visa runs, I think in the long run your better to continue playing the 2 month game with a trip every once in awhile. Can someone convice me otherwise?
http://www.pra.gov.ph/main/srrv_program?page=1
While I don’t want to work for someone else, I do want to operate a business.
The $1400 fee is hard but for me the $10,000 is harder. Quickly save the $1400 by not being required to leave the country. Like you said though, if you want to take those visa runs anyway, then the benefit of the SRRV is reduced. Some say it doesn’t even make sense. If you don’t truly live here and will be leaving and don’t want a business then there is only one benefit for the SRRV at that point and the $1400 would be s steep price to pay for that alone. That is no more bimonthly trips to the BI. The $360 renew fee is irrelevant in my opinion because you’re going to have cost more than that for your bimonthly renewals. That is about $75 every three months, depending on the exchange rate. Plus some month cost more. I don’t recall if the ACR card is included in the SRRV renewal fee. Probably not that’s another $100 or so. I tend to round numbers off and I don’t recall the exact fees. I’m a three hour, one way bus trip to the nearest BI office too. In the past, Jessie could do it for me but the BI tightened up on who can act as an agent. She usually goes to Cebu City once per month anyway. So now I’ll have to pay Travelways P500 (unless they raised their price) to act as my agent on months I do not go.
Not my place to convince you otherwise. You’re points are valid. One other thing though, if you bump that $10,000 up to $50,000 then you can take that money and put it on a condo and some other investments. That’s really my long term goal, a condo. I don’t have the 10K though, yet.
I’m working hard online these days, I expect to have it. I’m a long way from the $50K 
Honestly, I don’t think I’ll live that long but since I’m suppose to have died a couple of years ago, I’m not going to live that way any more. I’m going to live as if I’ll be here forever. I’m too stubborn to die. 
That link is already on the site.