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The Bureau of Immigration

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by 1anthony, Jul 22, 2020.

  1. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    I know Jack. I am married to a Filipina by birth but she became an American and essentially renouncing it by taking a new oath is just not a good option for her and that's just how it goes. That's why we did SRRV instead of 13A. Oathing-up to the homeland after all she did did to become an Amercian is no option. But "not" visiting our kids in America is not an option either; we could leave tomorrow and find ourselves like other overseas SRRV holders and be banned. Bottom line is, we will visit them no matter what, irrespective of any BI rulings. It is what it is. And I am not moaning about it :-)
     
  2. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    I think you may underestimate how much wives and families cost.

    Quota visas are also considered permanent resident immigrant visas. I would consider the Quota Visa (13) the gold standard of the Philippines "immigrant visas" (13 series visas) and "more permanent" than marriage visas as marriages regularly crash and burn and without your marriage you no longer have a visa. You can also be held ransom and black mailed by a knowledgeable spouse. There isn't much that can cancel a Quota Visa. Quota visas are as bullet proof as visas come in the Philippines.

    I suspect the special, S series, visas (SSRV/SIRV/SEVUA) will be allowed re-entry in the next month or two and the 9 series (tourist/work/student/TRV) being allowed in around the end of the year/beginning of 2021, so long as no other countries f*ck up their countries as catastrophically as Trump has. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Americans having travel restrictions placed on them by the Philippines due to that retard in the Whitehouse (as we are already starting to see).

    Everyone just needs to keep calm and remain flexible. This pandemic is screwing up all kinds of things all over the world, you have to be able to adapt and hopefully you haven't put all your eggs in the Philippines basket. Sucks if you have done that but that's a mistake you can't blame anyone but yourself for.
     
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  3. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    You aren't renouncing US citizenship when you reacquire Philippine citizenship. Once you have American citizenship you will always have it unless you specifically tell the USCIS you no longer want it. Taking the Philippines oath to reacquire Philippine citizenship will not change that. Many Filipino's in the US are dual citizens. I'm not aware of any serious consequences and if at some time you had to pick or choose you could renounce whichever one you wanted.
     
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  4. Always a Poppy

    Always a Poppy DI Senior Member Restricted Account

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    My wife went down the dual route and boy has that proven useful, at both ends of the planet.
     
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  5. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    We know what you are saying practically, at least currently, but it is the larger principle is that, ethically, you can only be loyal to one country and the last country you swore allegiance to is your true country of loyalty and “citizenship”. Principles matter to her. She values her US citizenship more than most natural born Americans I know; such is true of many legal immigrants in America.


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  6. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    Haha, you could probably say that about a lot of people in this group but not about me.

    We are actually married with kids but chose the SRRV route. Wife does not want dual and for me, I value the benefit that I never have to visit a BI office, renew my card every 3 years by courier mail for $15 in addition to using the expedited line fir immigration at the airport.

    But less priority for covid bans.

    That will teach SRRV people that they are not always high priority lol.


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  7. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I believe (but check from an official source) that would be allowed - it seems to me that these rulings are based on family life. So maybe their thinking is that a retirement visa is more likely to be a single person (even though that is not 100% true) but the other visas they quote (including the non-visa BB waiver) are for foreigners married to Filipinas and have a wife and, perhaps, children to support (also a burden off the State).

    BUT today I read that, due to insurance coverage issues, Filipinos are now prohibited from travelling out of the country for non-essential purposes. This means if your wife is already out then she could enter with you and, hopefully, obtain you a BB visa (waiver) - but if she is now in the Philippines then she cannot come out to meet you in a nearby country to re-enter with you.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 23, 2020
  8. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    Correct. The "PRA" part is interested in making money or more accurately, bring money and investment to the PI. BI must approve the visas but I think PRA issues them. There was definitely a stage in our applications that involved BI approval. We need the same clearances at home and in the PI as 13a. The same physical. But applicatnts never visit BI, PRA handles that interface for them. Applicants go the to citibank building in Makati (for Manila applicants) at the beginning of the process and at the end to pick up Passport with VISA sticker and SRRV card (similar to ACR card but different).
    "ABOUT PRA (SRRV issuer/facilitator)
    The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) is a government owned and controlled corporation created by virtue of Executive Order No. 1037, signed by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos on 04 July 1985. On 31 August 2001, through Executive Order No. 26, the control and supervision of PRA was transferred to the Board of Investments (BOI) – Department of Trade and Industry from the Office of the President.

    On 12 May 2009, Republic Act No. 9593, otherwise known as Tourism Act of 2009, PRA became an attached agency of the Department of Tourism and placed under the supervision of the Secretary.

    PRA is mandated to develop and promote the Philippines as retirement haven as a means of accelerating the social and economic development of the country, strengthening its foreign exchange position at the same time providing further best quality of life to the targeted retirees in a most attractive package."
     
  9. cabb

    cabb DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster ✤Forum Sponsor✤

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    If you think that Philippines will go to war with the US, one could be put in an ethical conundrum, but that's highly unlikely. In the big spectrum of ethics, cheating on taxes is probably more impactful. Many countries accept dual-citizenship so not everyone sees it as unethical. It's great that she values it. Many people don't know what they got until it's gone. In my experience, most people who reacquire it do it for the benefits it provides around property ownership and immigration benefits. It's unfortunate, bur the current laws of the Philippines influence this behavior. Inferring that a person with dual citizenship is unprincipled or unethical is a bit much.
     
  10. djfinn6230

    djfinn6230 DI Senior Member

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    No, it is at a higher level than that. I could be talking about Canada. And I am inferring nothing of the sort about people’s ethics. Everybody has their own ethics, that is their own business yet you are reading into my words something I never said. I personally have a completely different perspective (concerning myself) having been born a citizen. If my wife wanted to be a dual I would have no problem with that, as I shouldn’t, because it would be her personal decision. I never swore an oath of any kind to any country. I never had occasion to do so. But if I did, and then swore another oath to another country I would be faced with a dilemma, war or no war, friendly country or not. But my friends can say ‘don’t worry about it’. I would probably listen to them but the ethical dilemma is still there. My wife chose not to listen to her friends and I respect that and nobody including you is going to convince this legal immigrant who studied faithfully and went through the process, and who did swear an oath to USA citizenship, unlike you or me, to believe differently. Sorry if I miscommunicated in any way. Everybody runs into ethical dilemmas in life, major and minor, and how we handle them is nobody else’s business.


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