SRRV Classic Procedures - Philippines

Hello carl_g2013.

Welcome to Expat.com

Thanks.

Karen

its all given on the PRA website.....i can explain further if u did not get the answer yet .....

@ sanjeev > I think that it would be best if you can give us these information here on the forum as this topic can serve as a reference for other members later.

Priscilla
Expat.com team

Its best to find out from the Philippine Retirement Authority under the Department of Tourism. The deposit you mentioned is only if you are retired other wise it will be much more. Plus it must be in US$.  I will use this visa when my wife and i go there this year.  From what i have seen it can only be done in the Philippines.  Many people in this forum dont get all the facts right.  My wife and i visited them last year and have the list of requirements.  Good luck.  Its takes nearly a full day at the Bank to transfer the money in US$ and open an account.

carl_g2013 wrote:

It is not clear to me the sequence of activities to utilize the required SRRV bank deposit toward the purchase of a condominium. Does one purchase the condo first, before depositing the $ 10,000 at a PRA bank and obtaining the visa or obtain the SRRV before making the condo purchase. Any comment would be helpful. Thanks.

PRA has updated its website with an  information guide regarding SRRV visa PRA information guide about SRRV Visa
You have to pay the deposit first and then you can apply for conversion of this deposit into investment in condomium upon provision of all the required document checklist for deposit conversion as mentioned in PRA website / information guide.

In the condomium sale deed it shall be mentioned that it cant be sold without written approval of PRA.Thus u need to obtain written approval of PRA before u sell the condomium subsequently.Further note well that upon sale of the condo you need to pay back amount equivalent of your visa deposit to PRA.

Now what happens when u are finally leaving the country and cancel your visa.You shall apply for permission of PRA to sell the house.I understand and i am apprehensive that they may not allow you to sell the condo / house unless you first pay back amount equivalent to the deposit amount for SRRV Classic to PRA.I understand this coz unlike SRRV smile the deposit is non refundable even upon your sale of house and finally leaving the country and cancellation of your SRRV Classic.However , you may seek clarification from the PRA for confirmation.

SRRV smile is mentioned to be refundable but i heard from a reliable source  that PRA has made unjust deductions of about 3000 USD in the SRRV Smile visa deposit upon application for refund and the case is now pending in court in Philippines.The PRA website shows its member interaction area " under construction " since past 6 months now.It appears that they did this delibrately to prevent gossips amongst SRRV members about these unjustified acts of PRA in form of unauthorised / illegal deductions.Illegal because they might have lured the members into signing on them in gud faith but this might not have been what was actually told to them / was delibrately concealed for marketing value / for greater subscriptions ......at the cost of blood earned money of members most of whom are middleclass persons who come here for education of childeren / medical emergency / just a menial business etc....

They have a member affirmation certificate which says 1) depost is withdrawn upon cancellation but also writes " or withdrawable for end term conditions and obligations ".......ever wonder what this means ..... why there is court case against PRA for unjust deductions ? ......i am myself trying to contact other SRRV members to find out....

While selling visa they respond promptly through official PRA e-mail system but as soon as u reach Philippines noone responds to e-mails / service requests....not even through g.mail ids that they use after affirmation of membership.

So suggest extreme caution before you subscribe / sign on anything...

Do not trust them just coz they are a government company ....and just for their "nose value" coz this is the Philippines and u need to exert more caution here in Places wherein u think u can trust the most......

Priscilla wrote:

@ sanjeev > I think that it would be best if you can give us these information here on the forum as this topic can serve as a reference for other members later.

Priscilla
Expat.com team

agreed priscilla....u r perfectly right as the information could be of use to others also

ken49 wrote:

Its best to find out from the Philippine Retirement Authority under the Department of Tourism. The deposit you mentioned is only if you are retired other wise it will be much more. Plus it must be in US$.  I will use this visa when my wife and i go there this year.  From what i have seen it can only be done in the Philippines.  Many people in this forum dont get all the facts right.  My wife and i visited them last year and have the list of requirements.  Good luck.  Its takes nearly a full day at the Bank to transfer the money in US$ and open an account.

hi ken..gud luck for ur forthcoming plans ...yes they already have most information on their website.Recently they provided more information on their website through a downlodable booklet / information guide.

But suggest extreme caution and not to trust anyone even if it is a govt company.I heard of a court case against PRA for unjustified deductions of about 3000USD on SRRV smile deposit.In the process of marketing strategy and greater investments many facts may remain delibrately concealed at the expense of the innocent members visa deposit.

Further if u plan to go for SRRV Classic , i understand it needs to pay back the deposit amount from the proceeds of sale of condo ; in the event of a sale subsequently.......i understand this depost is non refundable and so they may not allow subsequent sale of the house unless the deposit money is paid back to PRA; even upon cancellation of this visa while finally leaving the country .It is to be noted that the condomium sale deed mentions that the property cant be sold without PRA approval in writing.

You may however further confirm from PRA directly by writing e-mail to them and they generally reply promptly.

Hi all,
I have applied for my SRRV and have to visit for collection of my passport now.
I wanted to know what all documents will be given to me other than the SRRV Card and Stamped Passport?
Do I get a copy of affirmation of membership?
Do I get a copy of the BI order?
Is there a process to take a photo with the PRA staff?
Do they send email communications on regular basis for any events of retiree's?
I wanted to know all above so I don't miss anything.
I have to visit tomorrow so I will be thankful if someone can enlighten me on priority.

Chivalrous0 wrote:

Hi all,
I have applied for my SRRV and have to visit for collection of my passport now.
I wanted to know what all documents will be given to me other than the SRRV Card and Stamped Passport?
Do I get a copy of affirmation of membership?
Do I get a copy of the BI order?
Is there a process to take a photo with the PRA staff?
Do they send email communications on regular basis for any events of retiree's?
I wanted to know all above so I don't miss anything.
I have to visit tomorrow so I will be thankful if someone can enlighten me on priority.

Hi Chivalrous0

You should get
- a copy of affirmation of membership
- a copy of the BI order
- confirmation of receipt of your deposit to DBP.

I didn't ask about a photo but the staff were helpful and I don't think they would have objected.

I've not yet had any email from PRA. Hhowever, I was invited to an event in Cebu when I submitted my application, which I couldn't attend because of short notice.

Good luck with collecting your passport and membership card.

Steve

BassMan_720 wrote:

Chivalrous0 wrote:

Hi all,
I have applied for my SRRV and have to visit for collection of my passport now.
I wanted to know what all documents will be given to me other than the SRRV Card and Stamped Passport?
Do I get a copy of affirmation of membership?
Do I get a copy of the BI order?
Is there a process to take a photo with the PRA staff?
Do they send email communications on regular basis for any events of retiree's?
I wanted to know all above so I don't miss anything.
I have to visit tomorrow so I will be thankful if someone can enlighten me on priority.

Hi Chivalrous0

You should get
- a copy of affirmation of membership
- a copy of the BI order
- confirmation of receipt of your deposit to DBP.

I didn't ask about a photo but the staff were helpful and I don't think they would have objected.

I've not yet had any email from PRA. Hhowever, I was invited to an event in Cebu when I submitted my application, which I couldn't attend because of short notice.

Good luck with collecting your passport and membership card.

Steve

Normally you will also have your photo taken while holding your membership folder.

sanjeev wrote:

carl_g2013 wrote:

It is not clear to me the sequence of activities to utilize the required SRRV bank deposit toward the purchase of a condominium. Does one purchase the condo first, before depositing the $ 10,000 at a PRA bank and obtaining the visa or obtain the SRRV before making the condo purchase. Any comment would be helpful. Thanks.

PRA has updated its website with an  information guide regarding SRRV visa PRA information guide about SRRV Visa
You have to pay the deposit first and then you can apply for conversion of this deposit into investment in condomium upon provision of all the required document checklist for deposit conversion as mentioned in PRA website / information guide.

In the condomium sale deed it shall be mentioned that it cant be sold without written approval of PRA.Thus u need to obtain written approval of PRA before u sell the condomium subsequently.Further note well that upon sale of the condo you need to pay back amount equivalent of your visa deposit to PRA.

Now what happens when u are finally leaving the country and cancel your visa.You shall apply for permission of PRA to sell the house.I understand and i am apprehensive that they may not allow you to sell the condo / house unless you first pay back amount equivalent to the deposit amount for SRRV Classic to PRA.I understand this coz unlike SRRV smile the deposit is non refundable even upon your sale of house and finally leaving the country and cancellation of your SRRV Classic.However , you may seek clarification from the PRA for confirmation.

SRRV smile is mentioned to be refundable but i heard from a reliable source  that PRA has made unjust deductions of about 3000 USD in the SRRV Smile visa deposit upon application for refund and the case is now pending in court in Philippines.The PRA website shows its member interaction area " under construction " since past 6 months now.It appears that they did this delibrately to prevent gossips amongst SRRV members about these unjustified acts of PRA in form of unauthorised / illegal deductions.Illegal because they might have lured the members into signing on them in gud faith but this might not have been what was actually told to them / was delibrately concealed for marketing value / for greater subscriptions ......at the cost of blood earned money of members most of whom are middleclass persons who come here for education of childeren / medical emergency / just a menial business etc....

They have a member affirmation certificate which says 1) depost is withdrawn upon cancellation but also writes " or withdrawable for end term conditions and obligations ".......ever wonder what this means ..... why there is court case against PRA for unjust deductions ? ......i am myself trying to contact other SRRV members to find out....

While selling visa they respond promptly through official PRA e-mail system but as soon as u reach Philippines noone responds to e-mails / service requests....not even through g.mail ids that they use after affirmation of membership.

So suggest extreme caution before you subscribe / sign on anything...

Do not trust them just coz they are a government company ....and just for their "nose value" coz this is the Philippines and u need to exert more caution here in Places wherein u think u can trust the most......

Reliable source?  You have heard?  Case in the Philippine courts?  You provide absolutely NOTHING to back of the bilge you just spewed here.  It is misleading and unsubstantiated. If you have proof, then provide it. Do you have an SRRV?  If you do then it sounds as though you failed to do your homework before applying.

I for one had absolutely NO issues with my PRA rep who asked for NO extra money while processing my SRRV.  I paid the posted fees and no more than the cost of my time and trips to Makati, the NBI, the U.S. embassy, the clinic for a medical review, the bank for my deposit and the DFA. All of those were clearly stated as necessary to the application and processing of my SRRV.  As for emails, each and every one of my emails was answered promptly and in detail by my rep and there were many as I did my due diligence and asked a LOT of questions.

If you do have an SRRV and failed to do your due diligence, then that is on you, not the PRA or the authorized PRA rep.

Thanx for a prompt revert. I can now go prepared and not miss out anything since I am flying out tomorrow. I informed my agent that I will need all of these documents. She told me that affirmation of membership will be signed now but ready for collection after 2 weeks.

Hi everyone.
I wanted to ask if there is any requirement to stay in Philippines for a short duration during the year, if I am on SRRV. As in if it's mandatory for me to stay x number of days or it is okay if I don't visit Philippines after getting the visa. That implies, I will get the ID renewed via my agent. Like in UAE, it is mandatory to visit UAE every 6 months to keep the visa live.
Your expert advice would be appreciated.
Thanx as always.

Chivalrous0 wrote:

Hi everyone.
I wanted to ask if there is any requirement to stay in Philippines for a short duration during the year, if I am on SRRV. As in if it's mandatory for me to stay x number of days or it is okay if I don't visit Philippines after getting the visa. That implies, I will get the ID renewed via my agent. Like in UAE, it is mandatory to visit UAE every 6 months to keep the visa live.
Your expert advice would be appreciated.
Thanx as always.

I just received an email from my PRA rep.  The answer to your question is,  there is no requirement as to the number of days you must reside in the Philippines in order to keep your SRRV visa valid.

The only requirement is that your yearly renewal is up to date which is reflected on your card.

So yes, you can leave for extended periods for work, business or other as long as you keep your card up to date with renewals.