I am arriving in Cebu late at night on Nov 15th, and departing Jan 13th. It is my understanding that I can extend my Visa at the airport, giving me the allotted time for my visit. Could someone please confirm this? I also plan to apply for the ACR-I card. Also I have recently read that I will be taxed for certain electronics, (laptop, digital camera… etc. Can someone give me an indication why, and the fees. Thank you, for any help on this.
Don't know about taxes, however, if you stay only 59 days as a tourist, you don't need a ACR-I card. You can apply for it, but probably never see it and it is expired when you leave the country. (as a tourist, that is) depending where you come from and where you go, the regular visa-waiver at a BOI does not take much longer than 30 minutes. speaking for myself, it is easier for me to do it at a BOI than at a Airport after 30 hours travelling, where the only thing I want is some beer and a bed to sleep.
Hi Rhoody, Thank you for the reply, I do plan to stay in the Philippines, will this affect my visa as a tourist? Also I keep reading about "throw away tickets" could you explain this for me? As far as the other issue, the article I read was from someone who lives there and was returning. Thank you for your time on this. Rod
As a tourist you can extend Visa bi-monthly up to 16 month. (With some effort up to 24 month.) By law you are required to have an onward ticket which verifies that you leave the country again. This can, but does not need to be a return ticket. Many buy a throw away ticket, meaning a cheap 1000 Peso ticket they never use, just to have the onward ticket. If you have a ticket for Jan 13th, you are fine. If you don't have this ticket, your airline might not let you check in, when departing for the Philippines. In the last couple of month were also occasional immigration-controls at the airport in Manila and they denied arrivals the entry into the Philippines without an onward ticket.
If you have a one-way ticket to the Philippines, a throw away ticket (as cheap as possible) is a solution but also a refundable onward ticket is possible. A refundable ticket from Cathay Pacific (Manila-Hong Kong)is a solution. The administrative cost is 50 US $.
Thank you for the responces. I am really confused at this point, and I am sure that it is probibly me. Please tell me exactly what I need to do to stay in the Philippines. Do I need to have the ACR-I card? I understand the extension, please note that my return ticket is for Jan 13th only, do I need a throw away ticket each time I extend my Visa? Please be specific, I am doing my best to understand all of this. Thank You, Rod
