⌛ Have i been ripped off !!!!!

Here in Dumaguete when I get my 2 month extention they always charge me 500 or 600 php for express processing...I am there 2 weeks before it is even due and they still charge me express.....anyone else have this done to them? Alan, a single American!!!

 

As I said, Dumaguete office always has been notorious for getting a few extra pesos. However, consider the alternative, trip to Cebu, dress code to get in the door, long waits (unless you want to pay an express fee of P500). Cebu has improved over the last year or so, used to be if you arrived after 9 am you would still be there at 4, and that is WITH paying the express fee.

Larry

 

my last extension was made and it included paying the i-card and so i got my reciept and it listed maybe 5000php plus versus the 7000ph approx that i paid, so i got the bad taste and lump of rip off in my throat and looked for more to the reciept and it was hard to find but hidden in the looped and multi layered scroll was the express lane fee charges and with that it all added up correctly, but the itemization of fee to apply then fee to be approved and granted and something else that was so redundant as to be obvious money glut , I told myself yesterday to be glad i dont have to pay income tax here for income i bring from overseas...

 

Tunji,

the first extension (NOT the waiver) is 4800. the i-card the equivalent to 50US$, so you end up at 7k

Alan, the express fee is 2 x 500 :
Express fee (Certification) 500.00
Express fee (For processing) 500.00

no matter how long they take.

source:
http://immigration.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=118&Itemid=51

 

Bit of bad News !

:( Tunji! you Don't pay tax on Savings, Inheritance or lottery winnings that you bring over from abroad, What ever you do DO NOT Admit any earnings from overseas that attracted a lessor tax payment in that country, PI will Assess you on the difference. I have a BIR case on at this time and it is not easy to escape once they find out you have earned overseas. Stupidly in 2007 I admitted to paying only 12.5% Income Tax on Earnings in Spain, "Bish, Bosh, BASH, gimmee, gimmee, gimmee the difference.


Jack P.:o

 

how many foreigners/expats live right now in the Philippines ?/ A couple of hundred thousands .. ?
Why i do not have a good feeling by reading about this visa " business " ?

 

Moooo!

Have you not heard of the cash cow? So sometimes being married does have its advantages!

 

the cash cow

In fact i know the cash-cow all to well :Dbecause a month ago I put here the remarks you can find here below. The " problem " was that I got reactions like : why not go home ? and more of that lack-of-arguments bullshit .
I can say that i have a gorgeous wife here but would it help ? ... :D and in spite of my remarks sofar like it here.
But i think this is a forum for critical discussion and not for creep in eachothers @ss.
Here my remarks at that time :

Like every country the Philipines strives , without any reasonable doubt, to stimulate the coming ( and residing) of expats and (longterm)tourists and expats, would it just be for the inflow of foreign currency and stimulation of the economy. After all they contribute by their spending ( food, housing etc. etc. ) a large multiple to the economy compared to the average Filipino.
Strangely enough at this moment the Philipino government in close cooperation with the banks does everything to discourage foreigners to come and stay and, on the contrary, stimulate the foreigners to look around for more fair and cheaper locations in the region as their there are for example Thailand , Cambodia and Indonesia .
The latest " highlight" of sucking and draining the foreigner is the so-called "terminal-fee" ( how creative) for taking money from an ATM : 200 p for each amount till 10.000 P and of course only for foreigners :D. ( BTW :I KNOW very well that a credit card is not free but one has to realize that while doing the ATM transaction you pay already for that in your card contribution or/and by getting a 2% lower rate then the actual so arguments about the banks have a costly operation to fill the ATM etc etc are simple nonsense).
To go on : it means for an average ( longterm) stayer here extra costs ( by a spending amount of 60.000p a month) of nearly 14.200 (!) pesos a year . All this for just using the ATM, which is of course a crazy legalized robbery compared to the situation in every civilized country right now in the modern word.
Add to this the newest invention of the goverment to drain/suck the expat : the registration card ( to be renewed every year and OBLIGATED for anyone staying more then 59 days) and already in fact existing of course by means of visa and passport) ) of about 2700 p. By the introduction of this card it was only needed if you stayed in the Philipines more then 6 months but this delivered not substantial cash so they changed it . .BTW : I know there is a resident visa but not everybody wants to get married which is needed for that). Its to stupid for words to see that as a "solution" . Dont forget you already give a tremendous contribution to the econmy by spending your dollars/euros here , but it looks like the governement/banks wants to slaughter the chicken with the golden eggs .
Add to this the existing visa "costs" of about 4000 p every two months. The above mentioned combined costs the expat about 40.000 p (!) a year without getting anything in return.
Furthermore they have the terminal fee at the airport 750p for each international flight. You have already paid for that in your flight ticket. I know : not important but an irritating symptom of a disease here .
Then we have the more expensive peso ( one year ago 70 pesos for one euro, now (december 2010: 56). In itself not to blame the Ph government for this but an alert for the expat who considers to reside in the Philipines.
All by all , as i stated before , time to look around for better and more fair options in the region or going home ?

 

ATM's
Even in the U.S. if you are not a member of the bank ATM you are using you are charged a fee anywhere from $1 to $3 for each transaction. Nothing new.

Visa fees
$1 a day is cheap compared to a lot of other countries around the world! Try over staying you visa in the U.S.! You will be asked to leave, plain and simple!

Terminal Fee
Check what you are being charged the next time you fly in airport fees. 750p is dirt cheap compared to any major airport in the U.S.

Exchange rates
Who's really at fault? The strong(er) Philippine peso or the weakening Euro? I feel your pain, as the 1st time I was in the Philippines the exchange rate dropped down to 40P to the U.S. dollar. A 10-20% yearly swing is inevitable, and on the positive side, opens up the door for ways to capitalize on those swings!

Can one find a more foreigner friendly place to live in this world? Possibly, but one needs to weigh all the variables and decide what is most important to them.

 

I am still packing.....I agree with every word said.... it Sucks , sucks and it is getting worse..... House and cars paid for in Sunny California, great fresh food and veggies, not more expensive than in Dumaguete, clean air and summer evenings with daylight til around 10 PM. Dumaguete....is a city made better but only in words by many forigners, the fact is, it is what it is..... a shithole on this planet.... Enjoy it!

The Beer is on me!

a BUD for you or two.

Cheers,
Ron