Richard

@gregparker6201 This is correct. It's very difficult for a foreigner to work in the Philippines, and without a job, there is no income, and therefore no PH income tax. There are other taxes, of course, such as property tax and VAT.If you're worried ... Read More

@bigpearl One of the secrets to a long and happy life is to not worry about the things we cannot change. Well done, Read More

I have determined that there is only one rule of the road here (Cagayan de Oro, Northern Mindanao): Do not hit anything or anyone. Everything else goes and is accepted. Read More

@Morgacj200424 I would think (without any direct experience) that before getting into a long-term committed relationship, one would discover whether it is possible to have reasonable, intellectual conversations on shared topics of interest. That's ... Read More

@Lotus Eater - that's automation for you! The computer responded, not a Filipino. Read More

@bigpearlThe system is evolving and different from last year. Now when you open the app it asks if you are departing or entering the country, with a different workflow for each, and you should complete the process each way. I'm sure it will be ... Read More

@bizwizard Think of it as the landing cards we had to fill out every time we entered a country, only now it is digital, and you need to fill it out when leaving the Philippines and when entering / returning. I believe that a customs declaration ... Read More

I concur with the above posts that it is needed, both outgoing and incoming. And just recently they integrated an incoming customs declaration into the online process. Read More

@jozica I use NFL Game Pass International in the Philippines. Great service and reasonable price. They moved to the DAZN platform last year, which requires you to watch from the country where you subscribed. It blocks VPNs, but watching from a smart ... Read More

@pnwcyclist At least it's not big money. Read More

@pnwcyclist That's what I thought, but to avoid any hassles at the airport I asked via their chatline and was told I needed one. I guess it's just another case of nobody really knowing what the rules are. Welcome to the Philippines! Read More

Hey guys. I've done my 1st 2 international trips since arriving during the pandemic (long story) in the past couple of months and received my ECC for each trip online at the BI website. I asked after the 1st trip if I needed a new one for the 2nd ... Read More

The wife and I are flying back to Bangkok next month (Cagayan de Oro, Manila, BKK), and here's the fare breakdown from Cebu Pacific: Fuel SurchargePHP 3,214.00PH Passenger Service ChargePHP 1,053.56Passenger Service Charge for National GovernmentPHP ... Read More

@danfinn This reminds me of the hassles I went through in getting my 13a visa and my wife gaining dual citizenship. The Department of Foreign Affairs (embassies) and the BI operate under different rules and processes and apparently don't talk to one ... Read More

I believe @danfinn got this backward (but who knows for sure). From my experience, you don't need an ECC if you have traveled abroad during the past year. And the P1600 travel tax is still in effect but is often added to the price of your ticket by ... Read More

@bigpearl @tonyuk6340 I agree with 'big pearl' - come here on a tourist visa, get married, renew as necessary, and apply for a 13a permanent resident visa (if you intend to retire here). Note that you will need things from your home country to ... Read More

Thanks, all. I eventually figured out how to submit an ECC-B request on the e-services site: they had my first name and middle name combined as my 1st name. I'm going to drop into my local BI office tomorrow to see what they have to say. I'm ... Read More

@78EJTWO ... Here's the current website for the Department of Foreign Affairs (PH embassies) ... https://dfa-oca.ph/ ... check under Services > Visa for much of the information you're looking for. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the DFA will ... Read More

Hi, Cheryl. Good questions. For me, the time change hasn't been much of a challenge since I did A LOT of international traveling in my career. Our biggest concern was the climate change, but we lived in Florida for the 5 years prior to moving to the ... Read More

@thebradster Welcome! My situation was a little different, as I applied for a 13a permanent resident visa while living in Florida. I needed a police report as part of that application and received it from the local sheriff's office. Since I had only ... Read More

@omarwebber111 I received my 13a approval from the PH Embassy in Washington, DC, so my situation was different than yours. When I arrived in Manila, the immigration clerk at the airport noted '13a' on the entry stamp in my passport. I then needed to ... Read More

@bigpearl Thanks, Steve - you made me laugh. Read More

@Cheryl I think most people would consider 'Filipino' to mean any locally-spoken language or dialect by Filipinos. Tagalog is one of the official languages of the Philippines (English being the other), so you might use Tagalog and Filipino ... Read More

@Moon Dog Thanks for sharing your excellent story. We see so many complaints on this forum - it's nice to learn that others, like me, are happy with their experiences in moving to and living in the Philippines. Read More

First of all - DO NOT decide to move to the Philippines without first visiting and spending time in the area(s) that you are interested in settling into. For my wife and I, we visited Cagayan de Oro many times over the years, though she hadn't lived ... Read More

@rlmcar55 You mean like the Japanese in the 1930s and 40s? That wasn't pretty, and maybe it could have been averted if there was a deterrent force in the region. Read More

Hi, Mikael. Good questions. As I arrived permanently in the Philippines during the height of the pandemic, I can't comment much on the difference in day-to-day life before and after. But where we live (uptown area of CdO), everything has gotten much ... Read More

We live in the 'uptown' area of Cagayan de Oro City where I spend a lot of time golfing (Pueblo de Oro), as well as a very popular expat resto-bar-apartment complex (KL Clubhouse). My wife is an excellent cook, but she destroys the kitchen every ... Read More

@Mickael I am in the Philippines on a marriage-related permanent resident visa (13a), the terms of which prevent me from working here. Which is fine, since our social security income is more than enough to live comfortably. But I can give you a few ... Read More

I filed our US taxes last week using TurboTax + e-file. Super simple since we had no US income other than SSA, and no income in the Philippines. Next year I probably won't bother filing. Since my wife (dual citizen) isn't working and has no plans to ... Read More

@PalawOne Just a thought: go to www.google.com/images and enter Philippines in the search bar. You can refine the search by adding other keywords (culture, historical, food, etc.) Read More

@Filamretire We built a 4-BR house 3 years ago and opted for tankless water heaters for the showers and bathtub (!!!). But the water pressure in our development is so bad that we also put a non-heated tank on the roof. That water can be pretty warm ... Read More

Back on the original topic, I noted the LTO requirement to wear long pants when I arrived 2-1/2 years ago. My wife's brother-in-law arranged through a friend at a local LTO office to get her driver's license, and I went along wearing shorts. ... Read More

My Filipina wife of almost 40 years drove more than I did in the US, but will not drive here (Cagayan de Oro), so I've done all the driving since we've been here for almost 3 years. I have gotten used to the carelessness and suicidal tendencies of ... Read More

It will help if you pre-register for the annual report at e-services.immigration.gov.ph. When I got to the office, they scanned the QR code it gave me, then looked quickly at my passport and ACR-I card, I paid the P310, and was out the door in about ... Read More

OK - so here are my theories on "memory loss" (I may have heard it on an episode of Cheers! but I don't remember): The memory cells of our brains act as a big, expandable database. As we get older, more information gets stuffed into that database. ... Read More

Yes to all of the above. However, as American ex-pats in the Philippines, my wife and I are doing fine, since we receive all of our income in US dollars (mostly Social Security). The increase in the exchange rate has more than doubled (tripled?) the ... Read More

@tpiro - I do not know what you would consider inexpensive, but US Global Mail (usglobalmail.com) has been extremely reliable for us for more than 2-1/2 years. As others have noted, they give you an address in Houston, and they provide a photo of ... Read More

So there is a great place that meets your specs in Cagayan de Oro, uptown. It used to be called Kingston Lodge, now it goes by KL Clubhouse. Owned and managed by an Aussie chef. It's usually about 40% expats, most with their wives or girlfriends, ... Read More

Back onto the subject of public transport: I thought jeepneys that are older than 15 years old were supposed to be pulled off the road this past spring. I still see a lot of old, rickety, smoke-belching units clogging traffic in and around Cagayan ... Read More

I'm guessing you guys using Wise and other money transfer services don't have a bank account here? I have always transferred funds directly from BofA to our BDO savings account. Neither charges a transfer fee and it takes 2 business days. Then I ... Read More

@kristopherryanwatson what’s that saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. His actions will be louder than words.  - @Bdc175That's the funny or mysterious thing about all of this - during the campaign, BBM ... Read More

I have a brother-in-law who has a barbershop outside of CDO and he charges P40 for a men's haircut. I can't figure out how he pays the rent for his small shop. Read More

@kristopherryanwatson Hi, Kris. I received approval for my 13a about 2-1/2 years ago from the PH embassy in Washington, so my experiences may not apply very well now. The big things you'll need are the Report of Marriage and your wife's ... Read More

I have also been using US Global Mail for almost 2 years and I am very happy with their service. The amount of mail I receive has slowed to a small trickle, but they are also good for consolidating things that I buy on Walmart.com and Target.com, ... Read More

Yes, it looks like an outbound ticket within 30 days of arriving is a requirement. I also saw that NAIA / BI is limiting the number of daily international arrivals to 5000, up from 2000. So some inbound flights may still be canceled or severely ... Read More

I usually place an order on Amazon twice a year for the things I can't find on Lazada or Shopee. Your delivery charges on Amazon will depend on whether you have Prime. Their service is usually very quick (2 weeks) but lately everything is ... Read More

Hi, Arcadieus. My situation was a little different in that I got my 13a while still living in the US. But much of what was noted above applied. I needed a local police report instead of NBI. I did the medical tests, but the PH embassy wasn't ... Read More

My motivation was pretty simple. After 35 years of enjoying our lives to the fullest (travel, dining out regularly, accumulating stuff), my wife and I were not in a position to enjoy our style of life in retirement in the US. We can do that easily ... Read More

Hi, Tony. Since you are American you may be able to go with a special SRRV visa for ex-US military vets. Here is what someone posted about it when I was in your shoes a couple of years ago: The SRRV has a special option that allows US Military ... Read More

Steve - tortillas are also available on Shopee.com Read More

I guess I'll miss Thanksgiving turkey dinner. S&R has frozen turkeys but way too expensive - and I'm not sure they would fit in our small oven. I miss a good sashimi bar with lots of choices (beyond tuna and salmon). And pita bread. And ... Read More

Hey Steve - our local S&R usually has Mission-brand tortillas and salsas. No enchilada sauce though. Read More

It should be a lot less than what you would pay in Australia for a similar quality of life - maybe 40%-60% less, depending on location. Of course, the Manila / National Capital Region and major tourist resort areas will be much more expensive than ... Read More

Thanks, Bob. Yes, I am well aware of the credit card interest trap - spent many years in it and am now very happy to be completely debt-free. We will adjust the plan as we get older, but for now (65 and healthy, knock-on-wood) we should be better ... Read More

Congratulations, Moon Dog. So happy for you, your wife, and Tikla. After all that, now your new happy life can begin. Just remember: have patience in everything. And the only rule when driving is to not hit anything or anybody. Read More

My wife and I moved to PH a year ago. We signed up for Medicare Part A (hospitalization, no cost) and declined Part B, C, D, etc. I took out a high-deductible policy with Cigna for about $3000 just in case something catastrophic happened but decided ... Read More

The home we finished last year has 6 Daikin-brand split units. Really like them, but 3 of them are now not cooling their rooms like they used to. I'm assuming they need a freon recharge. What do you guys think? Anything I might be missing? Air ... Read More

Mad Dog - maybe things have changed (again) or maybe my wife's situation was different than yours. Either way, it seems like you have a good plan. I've heard Tacloban is really nice. Good luck. Read More

The BI doesn't handle dual citizenship and Philippine passports; that's done by the Dep't of Foreign Affairs, which also runs the embassies and consulates. It seems pretty clear (to me) that these departments don't talk to each other ... Read More

Moon Dog - funny you mention dual citizenship. Long story, but my wife got hers in NY, but BI at Manila didn't accept it (twice in 2 years), so she came in as a US / Balikbayan tourist and took her docs to the Dep't of Foreign Affairs in ... Read More

Hi, Moon Dog. I received my 13a visa about 20 months ago (pre-pandemic) and didn't have to do an in-person interview in DC. Handled it all by mail. Maybe that has changed since, but I would think they would be more inclined to avoid in-person ... Read More

Sorry to hear about your ordeal, Bob, I hope your wife is also recovering. Personally, I had my first AstraZeneca shot in mid-May and got the 2nd shot this past Friday. Only a little soreness at the injection site for 1 week after the 1st shot, and ... Read More

Hi, Filamretire - sorry, as usual, I'm late to the party. My Filipina wife of 35+ years and I (no kids) lived life well in the US, not saving a lot for retirement. So we knew for a while that we would end up retiring to the Philippines in order ... Read More

I have also been using US Global Mail in Houston for just about a year. Fantastic service at a very reasonable price. It's a must-have not only for important mail but also for things you can't find in the Philippines - although shipping ... Read More

I agree completely about the lack of logic. It's so frustrating for me. The latest example is a new contact tracing app (Higala) that is being implemented in Cagayan de Oro. Basically, you create an account on their system to download a personal ... Read More

I've noted this in earlier threads, but here goes for the newbies. My wife (Filipina, married for 36 years, mostly in the US) and I decided in 2018 that we would retire in the Philippines in 2020 when we both turned 65. She has a large family in ... Read More

I will add the one thing that really bothers me about the Philippines (at least here in CDO). Many of my neighbors have large, beautiful dogs that they keep in small cages 24/7. Very cruel. They bark (loudly) at anything that passes, which makes ... Read More

I've been here (Cagayan de Oro) full-time for 9 months now, and am very lucky that I spend a lot of time with my wife's large, loving family. Yes, we spend a lot (relatively speaking) on them, but they are constantly doing things for us, so ... Read More

Thanks, Teejay. We have also had good luck with BDO for more than 2 years, until this incident. I unfortunately need to keep a US-based phone service for my banks that do not accept international numbers for 2FA - about $70/mo. I initiated online ... Read More

I'm not sure about the ability to work without a work permit as geolefrench stated, but a 13a visa and ACR-I card do make it easier to get a drivers license, bank account, etc. Read More

I ditto that too, but it's nice to be a bit removed from it, at least physically, as it plays out in the US. What a mess. Read More

"or worse a gun to your head" - I am afraid that the US is devolving into a similar political posture. But, back on topic, I remember reading somewhere that a condition of my 13a visa is that I do not engage in (including discussing) local ... Read More

Hi, Nobalut4me (I love the handle!). My wife and I, like you, have been married for more than 30 years and recently took the plunge you're considering, also from the US. For us, it was an easy decision - we couldn't afford to retire in the ... Read More

Hey, Moon Unit: I shipped a Balikbayan box from Florida on 2/23 via LBC (through a local affiliate) and it arrived in Cagayan de Oro on 5/18. I shipped 7 boxes using UMACC (www.umacc.com) on 4/2 and they arrived on 7/6. In each case, there was a ... Read More

I'm fairly new to living in the Philippines full-time but have been married to a wonderful Filipina for more than 36 years. We have been asked occasionally by her family to help with major medical expenses (major for them, not so much for us) ... Read More

So far no indication of tighter restrictions in Cagayan de Oro, other than a required plastic shield between riders on a motorcycle. We'll see what happens starting 8/15. Read More

Thanks, John. I was thinking the same thing - let's get this off of politics - before I posted my last response, but I just couldn't help myself. This is a great forum and I will try to do better to keep my contributions on topic. ... Read More

Hi, Enzyte Bob. I agree that a lot of the people that work for President Trump have done a great job in reacting to an unprecedented crisis, especially in regards to PPE, ventilators, hospital capacity, treatment and vaccine development, and ... Read More

Pwncyclist: thanks for saving me the time to post my own lengthy reply. You're spot on. I will just add that I do not understand the problem with wearing a mask. We don't have the right to not wear pants when we go out, and we accept the ... Read More

Yesterday, the US Embassy in Manila issued a level 3 warning against traveling to the Philippines, which is kind of ironic since the Philippine government is restricting travelers from the US. "Reconsider travel to the Philippines due to ... Read More

Rdesi54: I agree with Mugtech - PAL is the best option by far for traveling to the Philippines. They have flights from LAX, SFO, and JFK. I flew in on 6/29 from LAX and had the same status as you (American, married to a Filipina who was stuck in ... Read More

Hi, Alberto -- the 13a visa, if you acquire it prior to travel to the Philippines, took me about a month via mail to the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC - but that was after 2 years of getting all the needed documents together. Once in the ... Read More

Hi, Giovannigio. No - both at check-in and at the gate, the agents were very reluctant to let me travel. I think they were looking at the rule of "spouses of filipinas traveling with them', which didn't apply to me since my wife had ... Read More

Very happy to hear you all made it, TW. I completely agree about the struggle you (and I) went through, but we are in a far better place now. And, speaking for myself, the struggle has been minuscule compared to what millions of others have had to ... Read More

I read a good article yesterday (https://www.redstate.com/beccalower/2020/07/24/mike-rowe-answers-a-fan-letter-about-covid-19-it-probably-wasnt-the-answer-they-expected/?Catid=flagship) on having a pragmatic attitude toward living your life during ... Read More

Hi, JW. For the 1 night that I spent in the LGU-sponsored "hotel", a nurse did stop by a couple of times to check my temperature. Once I moved to my home quarantine, I was just asked to take my own temperature twice per day. No visits at ... Read More

Hi, CarNin. I don't know about your situation but you are right that it would be fair to let you into the country to visit your child. However, the people on the front lines (immigration officers) do not respond to fairness or logic. They simply ... Read More

Hi, Ed. Currently, my wife and I are in an apartment in the Primavera Residences / Uptown - next to SM City. We're building a house nearby in Xavier Estates that should be done in about a month. I'd love to meet up and hear about your ... Read More

I left at the end of January (pre-shutdown) and was planning to return in mid-May but that got pushed back to the end of June because of all the flight cancellations. My flight from LAX to MNL was diverted to Cebu where I received a COVID test, ... Read More

Hi, TW. That's excellent. It was very early in the morning, so my memory may be foggy, but I don't remember having to show anything other than my flight reservation and passport. I did have to walk through a shoe sanitizer and had my ... Read More

Hi, JW. Today is my last day. The baranguy captain should be here soon to take my temperature and sign off on my release. It all went pretty quickly. They never checked up on me, but my wife did, so maybe she's been reporting back to them. It ... Read More

Thanks, TrainWreck. The local health dept / LGUs are short of hotel rooms for quarantine, so they will welcome your plan to home quarantine. The key for you will be someone on the ground here that will be taking care of getting you groceries, etc. ... Read More

It means that Filipinos can now leave the country for non-essential travel Read More

They actually opened up external tourist travel for Filipinos this week, with some restrictions (such as no restrictions at the destination). And they are opening Terminal 3 at NAIA to international arrivals tomorrow, so they must have additional ... Read More

Hi, Tom, In normal times you should expect to pay a change fee to rebook your flight at a later date, but during this time I think all airlines have been waiving change fees and offering full credits or refunds in a case such as yours. But these ... Read More

Orjanf - yes - you just need to be able to show her maiden name (Philippine passport) and your marriage certificate. You made need to make the case that you submitted the report of marriage request and it's been held up because of the shutdown. ... Read More

Good question, Orjanf. Assuming your wife is traveling with you and the name on her passport matches the name on the marriage certificate, you "should" be ok. They are starting to loosen travel restrictions - Filipinos can now travel ... Read More