Process of visiting and living in the Philippines

          Welcome, Charlie, to expat.com.  There are plenty of things you need to know about the Philippines,  the good news is Thailand is probably hotter than the Philippines unless you were staying in the mountains.  Let us know where your girl lives plus any specific questions you have about visas, economics, society in general.  Good luck!!

@gojirabug

Welcome to the forum, enjoy.

As a US national you can simply roll up here and avail the 30 day visitor visa free. If you are happy here after a couple of weeks then extend your visa at your local immigration office for up to 3 years then you will need to exit the country for a holiday for 1 or more days, then return and start again, there are multiple visa types here and just takes a little looking.

I would also suggest to spend some time here as it's an acquired taste and a little different to Thailand, the beauty here is most speak English.

Good luck and have a great trip.

Cheers, Steve.

@mugteck  Thank you so much for the response. My girlfriend lives in Danao, about 45 minutes north of Cebu city. You are correct about the heat in Thailand - it is brutal! Glad to know the heat in the Phils isn't quite as bad (though I've heard it's still pretty hot).

While I'm thinking about it, I do have some initial questions on the visa process and some general queries (I need to do more homework on the forum here, so bare with me if these are obvious questions answered a thousand times already):

• I understand as an American I can stay for 30 days without a visa and possibly extend it, but beyond that I'm clueless. Does it make sense to apply for a "9A Temporary Visitor's Visa" or just attempt to extend after 30 days?
• Any good advice on keeping a US phone number while in the Philippines? (I have concerns about two-factor authentication with US based services such as my bank and other financial institutions, but don't want to pay an arm and a leg to Verizon for their international plan.)
• I may want to ship some belongings (some of which are valuable) to the Phils. Any recommendations on carrier services? (Not critical to ship fast - just reliably.)

Thank you!

@bigpearl

Hi Steve - thanks very much for the response. Agreed that a major draw for me is that English is widely spoken. (I spent time alone in rural Thailand and became decent at speaking and understanding basic Thai, but it was still quite a challenge to have meaningful conversations with locals there.) On the topic of visas, you read my mind. This is the big concern for me. The 30 day visa-free entry is extendable up to 3 years? That sounds great and perhaps less strict than Thailand's rules. Does the extension grant you 30 days more at a time, or are there options to extend longer than that? 

Out of curiosity, when you say the Phils are an acquired taste, anything specific come to mind? I fully anticipate some changes in lifestyle and comforts, but would love to hear more about this. Truth is I'm looking to slow down my life and live more simply, so I'll embrace some of the tradeoffs, but of course I don't want to walk into this completely blind. Any thoughts you can share would be greatly welcomed!

Cheers,

Charlie

Hello everyone,

Welcome on board Charlie !

Since the OP has several questions, I have opened this new thread on the Philippines forum for better interaction.

All the best

Bhavna

@gojirabug

but of course I don't want to walk into this completely blind

Presumably you have met your Filipina GF in person before?

gojirbug said. . . .I may want to ship some belongings (some of which are valuable) to the Phils. Any recommendations on carrier services? (Not critical to ship fast - just reliably.)
Thank you!

*********************

BRO, In your initial post heading says "Process of visiting and living in the Philippines".

Which one, visiting or living?

Don't be such a hurry to ship anything to the Philippines, as you posted, you've never been to the Philippines.

So where did you meet your Girlfriend?

Cebu isn't exactly like Soi 6 in Pattaya, but online romances are.