Few questions about life in Dumaguete

I been pondering the thought of leaving the US and starting a pre retirement life in the Philippines.
Will be looking at a 2 week trip around the start of 2015. I know visiting the Philippines and living there could be 2 very different worlds.
So have a few questions if anyone has the time -

Banking, how and where do I keep my money? America or?

Guns, can I bring my firearms to this country?

What kind of jobs is available for Americans? Is it hard to get a job in the Philippines if I am not a native?

Precious metals? How can I move them to Philippines? Also where would I keep them in a local bank or other area?

Bring pets. Is it a big hassle or easy to do and pet friendly apartments?

I saw the yahoo expat rating thread and here is the Philippines based on 61 countries.
Switzerland was #1 for most of the topics, IF you can afford to live there.

Ovder all rank 1-61
General Quality of Life - #44 Philippines
Leisure Options - #47
Personal Happiness - #2
Travel & Transport - #46
Health, Safety & Well Being - #44

Personal happiness was #2, that is amazing out of 61 countries in the survey.

 

OK, You will no doubt get many more answers this is just my little bit.

1. Banking. Your preference, Me, I maintain a UK bank but have a Filipino bank for ease. (Dumaguete has literally a bank on Every Street and Corners, Opening a bank A/C is relatively easy.
2. You may NOT Bring A GUN NOR can you own a Gun.
3. Unless you have a Special occupation that can't be done by a Filipino you will find it hard to obtain work (Certainly you may not work, as a Tourist)
4. Precious metals may not be Brought into the country ( very Strict Controls are in Place for Wealth Movement in this and Hard cash. I will post again the customs page a little later for you. [You may only bring $10.000 cash. Over this has to be reported to the Central Bank for Clearance.] { on arrival anything customs find over this amount will be confiscated
5. Not Advisable to bring Animals (Heat and Health risks to Animals should be a big factor) many do and many regret it. No doubt you may get answers on this from a few that I know have brought pets.

Hope this will give you a little to work on.

Welcome to the forum.


Jack P.

 

Raffie, Linked is the Current page of the Customs import page for personal items. It is a very good link in that it can be expanded and may well answer many more questions you or in fact anyone else has left hand column of general Information has a lot of Answers for some recent Topics Questions. It is a good read for most I think.

http://www.philippineconsulate.com.au/bringing-of-personal-effects-into-the-philippines.html

it was Primarily Aimed at the Aus Consulate but it's effects are for all.


JP

@Brian Oinks, This you may find very interesting

 

Thanks good info.

Also how I can find a cheap place to stay if I want to visit the area and not pay hotel prices?

 

Well that is a Boots on the ground task, Come check in a hotel for a few days and look around,

None of us would recommend you do this over the internet. There are many places for rental but you need to be here to see for yourself. There are quite a few cheaper end Hotels in Dumaguete, from 800 p to 1500p a night depends what your budget is but it will not break you. One page for you to have a look at.


http://www.booking.com/city/ph/dumaguete.html



JP

 

Also how I can find a cheap place to stay if I want to visit the area and not pay hotel prices?

IMO a strange question for someone who have been asking this kind of questions:

Banking, how and where do I keep my money? America or?
Guns, can I bring my firearms to this country?
What kind of jobs is available for Americans? Is it hard to get a job in the Philippines if I am not a native?
Precious metals? How can I move them to Philippines? Also where would I keep them in a local bank or other area?
Bring pets. Is it a big hassle or easy to do and pet friendly apartments?

 

I saw a video and they said the online apartments will cost more due to fee's and such.
My visit is more or less my premove look.
Looking at Dumaguete or Davao City.
Both places look nice from video and what I read.

 

Raffle, I recommend you keep a U.S. bank with an ATM Card and also open a local bank. Banks have lock boxes for a low cost for your valuables. You should not count on working here, particularly in Dumaguete unless you are an internet wizard and an expat would hire you. I brought two small dogs to Manila, quite a hassle and my company paid the urgency, and they need air conditioning and electricity is quite expensive in the Philippines. You would also need to decide on which type of visa if you are going to stay here permanently. Finally, if you are single and want to hook up with a girl here, proceed with caution. Good luck.

 

Regarding bring animals from US: I bought two persian cats, Imp and Uggy. I was recommended by others not to do it but I figured if they could life in the US in AC, they could live in the Philippines with AC. One of the best decisions for me I made here. I have had them here for 3 years. They are primary inside cats but go outside everyday also. The heat, surprise, does not seem to bother them. They live in AC house in southern California but only AC one room here on an occasional basis as I have had very few heat problems with them. My biggest problems with them is getting good cat food for them here, They like fancy feast at about $ 1 USD a can. It is not the expense it is just not available at time so I generally have two week supply on hand. The cost is $525 P a Kg., while fish at the fish market sells for 20 to 60 P per kg.... of coarse they refuse to eat that but all the Filipino cats I have outside (13 cats) eat the fish, smile and smile too. The other problem I have with them is stomach parasites here when they go outside. I worm them regularly and the problems have gone away.
As far as the process of getting them into the Philippines, it is difficult but not impossible to do. There are internet sites to help you understand the process, and they were even pet "forwarders" in the Los Angeles area. I gave myself 6 months to get ready, and focused one of my employees on the project for 6 weeks before departure. Many task such as vet reports can only be done a short time before they leave. So you can not do somethings in much advance.
I estimated all costs to bring the two cats here including air fare at about $1,800 total. Best decision decision I have made.

Regards to woman here: I would suggest the best tool to find a good lady here would be a lie detector. No matter what you paid for it... it would save you lots of money and time and frustration. o_O Learn how to spot gays (men dressed as woman) and transgenders, and giving up any marine survival training that you have learned.