Financial and background check questions on obtaining a retiree visa

Rdc4 Member

11POSTS

6 years ago

Hello,
Im a 54 year old single male living in the USA. I’m considering on obtaining a SSRV retiree visa. I have about $500,000 in USD in various stock retirement accounts for which I can access about half of that now ($250,000) and when I turn 59 1/2 I can access the other half without penalty. I also have two private sector pensions I can start withdrawing from when I turn 55 1/2 that total approximately $1000 US dollars a month that will increase about $100 a month in value for each year I delay withdrawing from them. I do not plan on withdrawing from the pensions until I have spent down my assets to maximize the monthly payment amount. They are available if for some reason I spend through my savings and have to tap into them early. The max I can obtain from the two private pensions is $2000 a month when I turn 65. I also expect to receive approximately 2000 a month in social security when I turn 65.

Do I have enough money saved to retire to the Phillipines? How much money do I need a month to live comfortably. Do you see anything in my current financial situation that should keep me from retiring to the phillipines now?

I also have a question about the criminal background check. I have an arrest from 15 years ago for a domestic assault. I went to court and they said if I stayed out of trouble the I would not be convicted. I was not put on probation or fined or convicted of anything as far as I know. If I was arrested but not convicted will that prevent me from obtaining a ssrv visa? I have not actually looked at me criminal record report but I’m pretty sure the arrest will show on my report. Thanks for any feedback.

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TeeJay4103 Serial expat

637POSTS

6 years ago

First, it's never a good idea to advertise your finances on an open forum.

Secondly, I would suggest getting in touch with an accredited PRA representative (if they are legit, they do not charge to help you),
I would be happy to send you the contact information for my PRA rep who was a great help in securing my SRRV. She should be able to answer your question factually.

Send me a private message here (just click on my photo) if you would like me to send my reps contact information.

Regards.

1 member reacted to this post

Tim_L Serial expat

239POSTS

6 years ago

Sounds to me like you have plenty of money to live here however you want provided you don’t let some Filipina and/or her family fleece you out of it.
Do your homework and know what you are getting into before you get here. Then spend lots of time here before making the final leap. Currently, you can hang Here for 3 years before having to make a visa run. I would wholeheartedly suggest that you do just that.
Don’t be in a rush to buy any big ticket items here as that would not only relieve you of resources, it will tie you here as well. You may not like it after a year or two.

Pull your own FBI report. I forget the web site to do it in the US but, there is one and you can do it yourself and the costs aren’t that much. $100 I think when I looked a couple of years ago. You can also pull a police report from where ever you are locally and see what’s on it. Knowledge is power.

frankanderson Contributor

114POSTS

6 years ago

I hope that is a throw-away account that you are using, Too Much Information man.

As for the answer to your question, YES it's enough. People can get by with a fraction of that, it is all down to your lifestyle. If you want a huge 5 BR house in a gated community, have some nice wheels, party every weekend, dress like a star and eat like a king, then probably not.

As other members said, come here first and then decide later. I have been here 2.5 years now, I really like it here.

You will find gold diggers everywhere you go, not just PH. Don't let stories of gold digging partners that fleeced away a foreigner's retirement and then kick him out on the street stories scare you. I have met both good and bad people here, Heck I even met philippino's in HK that ..... uh not going to get into it, but you get the picture.

Lets just say I learned the hard way and now, I'm not afraid to say NO even after a "sob" story.

Come here, Rent a place for a year, stay a while. Hook up with some locals and foreigners alike, just feel it out and decide.

IIRC domestic assault is like getting into a bar fight or you beat up an annoying neighbor or something right ? Since you were never convicted. The arrest might show,
people get into fights all the time so it's nothing major. be forward about it as You were never found guilty of a actual crime, so court just gave you a slap on the wrist and let you off with a warning.

Rdc4 Member

11POSTS

6 years ago

Thanks for the responses. I went to the PRA website and reviewed the SSRV application and it stated that persons convicted of a crime of moral turpitude are excluded from obtaining an SSRV. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t convicted of any crime and was only arrested. I plan on obtaining my criminal background report to verify what is on it.

I have never been to to the philipines and it sounds like the three year visa is the best option for me. I want to make sure I can adapt to living in the philipines before I commit to any retirement visa. A good friend of mine is married to a Filipino. He found here on a dating website and flew from the USA to the philipines to meet her and they are now living in the USA. They’ve been married 20 years and have three kids. I could always ask him about her family back in the philipines and have some connections with some locals. Thanks again for everyone’s responses.

Enzyte Bob ViP

4366POSTS

6 years ago

Rdc4 wrote:
I’m pretty sure I wasn’t convicted of any crime and was only arrested.

This seems like a weird statement. If you were arrested there certainly had to be an outcome.

(1) Case dismissed
(2) Pleading no contest
(3) Guilty & fine
(4) Not showing up for court, no warrant issued
(5) Not showing up for court, warrant issued, but not executed.
(6) A payoff or bribe, case disappeared.

"Dog" the bounty hunter may be looking for you. Hahahaha

Rdc4 Member

11POSTS

6 years ago

I went to court and my lawyer spoke to the prosecutor before we appeared before the judge. My lawyer told me that if I stayed out of trouble for 6 months they wouldn’t prosecute/drop the case or something to that effect.i wasn’t put on probation and I wasn’t fined or given any kind of punishment. This happened about 15 years ago and I’m a little fuzzy on all the details. All the paperwork related to my arrest I could not find as my exwife kept all our paperwork in orde and I couldn’t find any of the paper work after we divorced. I also called the court in hopes of obtaining copies of my arrest and I was told records are destroyed after 10 years. Anyway I’m obtaining a copy of my fbi summary report soon and hope to get a clear picture of the disposition of everything. I definitely don’t have any outstanding warrant on me as I’ve applied for a job with the federal government and they fingerprinted me and ran a criminal background check and I was able to get a job as a part time census taker.

Enzyte Bob ViP

4366POSTS

6 years ago

Rdc4 wrote:
I went to court and my lawyer spoke to the prosecutor before we appeared before the judge.

<snip>
My lawyer told me that if I stayed out of trouble for 6 months they wouldn’t prosecute/drop the case or something to that effect.i wasn’t put on probation and I wasn’t fined or given any kind of punishment. This happened about 15 years ago and I’m a little fuzzy on all the details.

<snip>
All the paperwork related to my arrest I could not find as my exwife kept all our paperwork in orde and I couldn’t find any of the paper work after we divorced.

Contact the lawyer that represented you, maybe he has the paperwork. I don't understand why your ex-wife would have the paperwork.

Many many years ago when I was divorced the Judge issued an order that I was to pay alimony of $400 a month for two years, which I paid.

10 years later I get a letter from the court that I owe $48,000 in back alimony. I had a copy of the original divorce decree, showing I was obligated for only two years. I went to the court accounting office and showed them the decree, with a single key stroke it was corrected.

Several months later I received another letter from the court, with trepidation I opened the
envelope, inside was a check stating I overpaid by several months. They were screwed up just like the original letter, so without wanting to muddy the waters (Hahahaha) I spent the money.

Rdc4 Member

11POSTS

6 years ago

#10

Enzyte Bob wrote:
Rdc4 wrote:
I went to court and my lawyer spoke to the prosecutor before we appeared before the judge.

<snip>
My lawyer told me that if I stayed out of trouble for 6 months they wouldn’t prosecute/drop the case or something to that effect.i wasn’t put on probation and I wasn’t fined or given any kind of punishment. This happened about 15 years ago and I’m a little fuzzy on all the details.

<snip>
All the paperwork related to my arrest I could not find as my exwife kept all our paperwork in orde and I couldn’t find any of the paper work after we divorced.

Contact the lawyer that represented you, maybe he has the paperwork. I don't understand why your ex-wife would have the paperwork.

Many many years ago when I was divorced the Judge issued an order that I was to pay alimony of $400 a month for two years, which I paid.

10 years later I get a letter from the court that I owe $48,000 in back alimony. I had a copy of the original divorce decree, showing I was obligated for only two years. I went to the court accounting office and showed them the decree, with a single key stroke it was corrected.

Several months later I received another letter from the court, with trepidation I opened the
envelope, inside was a check stating I overpaid by several months. They were screwed up just like the original letter, so without wanting to muddy the waters (Hahahaha) I spent the money.

I received a copy of my fbi summary report and it shows that I was charged with assault and battery - family member with no disposition of the charge. I contacted the fbi and they told me to contact the Virginia state police to have them forward the disposition of the case so they could update there records. I went down to the court house and obtained a court document showing the disposition of the case and it showed that there was an “order of nolle prosequi on prosecutions motion.” In other words the prosecutor decided to drop/not pursue the charges. I Contacted the state police and they told me they would send the disposition of the charge to the fbi so my record can be updated.

I hope having an arrest on my record won’t prevent me from obtaining a retirement visa. My understanding is only a conviction would prevent me from obtaining a visa. Anyway I should have straighten this out a long time ago as the arrest occurred in 2004. I’m just glad the records are still on file so I can clean up my criminal background report.

Do you think an arrest for an assault and battery (misdemeanor) with the disposition of the charges not pursued/dropped will prevent me from obtaining a visa? Has anyone had similar issue while obtaining a retirement visa?

Rdc4 Member

11POSTS

6 years ago

#11

After doing some research I plan on filing a petition to have the arrest record expunged from my criminal background report. Since the charge was from 15 years ago and I have no prior or subsequent charges I think I have a good chance of having it removed. The disposition of the case of “nolle prosequi” (prosecutor decided to not purse the charges) is also favorable to having the record expunged. Assault and battery is a crime of moral turpitude which is an offense that can prevent me from obtaining an SSRV. I don’t want to take any chances of having a assault and battery arrest preventing me from obtaining a retirement visa. I figure I have time since travel has been suspended to the philipines.

Lat61 Contributor

170POSTS

6 years ago

#12

Crimes of moral turpitude include, Crimes of Fraud including mail fraud, Bribery Counterfeiting money Fraud Abandoning a child Kidnapping Rape.
Looks like your in the clear.

villr513 New member

5POSTS

4 years ago

#13

@Enzyte Bob Sir you are stacked.. Looks like you'll be royalty out there with that type of financial planning.. I'm 60 and will be looking to begin my journey when l get to 62. I'll be lucky if l can have 150k saved. I don't have all the other perks you mentioned. You're on your way to a nice retirement. I'm jealous now..😁😁

villr513 New member

5POSTS

4 years ago

#14

@Tim_L Good day sir. I am trying to gather as much info as possible myself. The background check is what l am concerned as well. Back in the day was a mess. All in the past now. 15 years plus to be more accurate. I still have not gotten a concrete response on how far back do they check and what are the options. Anyone has any feedback on that.?

villr513 New member

5POSTS

4 years ago

#15

@frankanderson can l ask if you know how far back do they check your background? I'm headed out that way in November. Looking to stay as long as 2 to 3 months hopefully. My goal is to retire there. That SRRV visa might be a problem for me if they check back 30 years. Looking for input on those that have gone thru the process. Thanks..