Australians living in the Philippines - I need advice on the process of living there.

Okay I have searched and have not found the right answers so here goes as I am sure you guys can answer my questions...

I am currently in the process of applying to Centrelink here to Portal my Disability Pension to the Philippines so that I can live there with my Wife and Daughter.

I have heard many stories on what is required once I am there so need to be pointed in the right direction.

To live there do I need to exit the philippines each year, if yes, for how long?

Once I am living there, what is the process as in; do I need to pay a yearly Fee to live there and where do I need to pay that Fee and to who?

I had many questions but now my mind is drawing a blank! O-|

I am married to a Filipina (last December the 31st) and plan on relocating there to live permanently as long as I am approved to keep my Pension which I am sure will happen due to my disabilities. I would like to know the requirements for an Australian (not sure if other Foreigners need to do the same or if it is different for them to an Aussie) to live there fulltime as to the process and fees etc...

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance. Brian

 

Brian, although I'm not from the same country you are (I'm Dutch), I will travel to Manila this weekend to start the process of obtaining a probationary resident's visa (13A). My (Filipina) wife has to officially request the issuance of such a visa and we have to complete a number (recently reduced dramatically) of forms. All the info you need you can find in the Bureau Of Immigration (BI) website, including the costs: around 11000 PHP. After a year you have to apply for a permanent visa (not sure how much that will cost but I presume a similar amount). After that it's an annual drag to register you're still in-country (between 1 Jan and 1 Mar) and payment of the annual fee of (currently) 310 PHP. Until you have the paperwork sorted to apply for your probationary visa (try to obtain that via the Phil Embassy in your home country), you can renew your entrance visa every 2 month. When you arrive together with your wife you can get a Balikbayan visa valid for 1 year (bring your marriage certificate with you on the flight). Hope this has helped you a bit.

Vicmico

 

Thanks, sorry for the delay in replying, do I have to apply for permanent residency to live in the Philippines? I am sure if I do that I will lose my Disability Pension from the Australian Government...

I have so much going on here trying to sort out my life after being robbed blind here in Oz while I was in the Philippines for 6 weeks, still going through legal hassles with the ex-Boarder claiming what he was caught with I gave to him so that he cannot be charged. It is doing my head in and making it hard to get onto searching the Philippines Immigration Site or emailing them yet.

I want to live in the Philippines for the majority of the year, then return home to Oz for maybe a month each year if that is possible, or whatever the requirements are for the Australian Government to keep them also satisfied so that I can keep my Disability Pension.

I will try to go through the Philippines Web Site as soon as I get some time and try to make sense of it all or email them in the hope they can explain it all to me as I am unsure if Australian's need to do anything differently to the Dutch, American's, German's etc...

What do you mean arrive together with my Wife? Do you mean both enter the Philippines upon my return or both go to Manila Immigration to apply for a Probationary Resident Visa?
She is still living in Negros where I hope to join her on my return.

Sorry if I sound dumb, but my head is all over the place since arriving home January the 11th and I cannot wait to get the hell out of here and put all of this behind me as I am in the middle of applying to Portal my Pension as well as trying to deal with Police, Solicitors and upcoming Court appearances against those who burgled me so it is very hard for me to concentrate on anything lately...

Cheers, Brian.

 

Brian, sorry about the troubles you've encountered. I can imagine your head spinning from all the legalities and not being able to concentrate on the ins and outs of Philippine requirements too.
I was under the assumption your wife was with you, that's why I mentioned the Balikbayan visa possibility. As she is apparently still here, that doesn't apply and you will have to start with a tourist visa that can be extended every 2 months (albeit not eternally). I don't think your application for a resident's visa (probationary for the first year) will have any effect on losing your pension. It doen't mean that you become a Philippine citizen, far from it! It just reduces the number of times you have to visit the Immigration Bureau per year from 6 times to one only.
Just get things sorted out and check with the Phil. Embassy in Oz whether you can start / obtain the residents visa there and what you need for such an application. Amongst others they will need an NSO certified copy of your marriage certificate and of you wife's birth certificate. As a matter of fact, she will have to officially request the issuance of a residents visa for her spouse. The website of the Bureau of Immigration will give you a short list of documents you need. Check it when you feel up to it and you have the time.

Good luck mate, and hope everything turns out OK for you.

Vicmico

 

Thankyou Vicmico I will email the Philippines Embassy here first and ask for their input. I am 99.99% sure I will be approved by Centrelink (Social Security) here to able to live in the Philippines keeping my Disability Pension, so I guess it is up to the Two Governments to get things working as in; keeping my Australian Pension and being able to live in the Philippines. It still worries me regards having to leave the Philippines each year. I have had some say I need to exit the Country for 24 hours, some say a Month, some say 3 Months. I hope the Philippines Embassy can shed light on that for me.

Thank you for your input, I was just after a lead on somewhere to start asking and thought there would be a few Aussies here on Disability Pensions who could advise and point me in the right direction using what they needed to do as an indication for myself...

Cheers, Brian

 

Hi Brian , be real sure on your availability for portability in the phils , oz gov. has really tightened up on that recently , and I mean savagely , there is a website for info on that I will see if I can find it and I will post it here for you , Tony

 

Hi OzTony.
I am pretty sure I will be approved as I have had a broken leg since January/February of 1986 after a Motor Accident on the 18th of November, 1985. They removed the steel plate and screws due to infection and my body rejecting the foreign object, that has left me with a permanently broken leg that will never heal, that cannot be repaired and I have no hope of getting an artificial replacement Hip to replace the broken section of bone which is around 2 inches from my Hip joint. My right leg is now 6 inches shorter and my Hips, knees and lower back are badly worn from walking 29 years with a bad limp and I also suffer severe pain from my right shoulder to my knee daily as I also broke my right wrist and arm which healed along with my crushed Pelvis. But severe pain means I survive on a cocktail of painkillers which I am currently working out exactly what I am able to obtain there versus what I take here which is around a dozen Tablets for breakfast and around 4 or 5 before bed at night.

I have applied now for my Pension Review and my two Doctors say that I should be approved no problems, but yes I know what you mean as Centrelink are being pricks and I have had a couple of smart asses rubbing it into me that I WILL lose my Pension and WILL need to seek work. I begged to differ and informed them I would be screaming from the highest Tower should they decide because they can, to fail me... Trust me; If they do they WILL have a fight on their hands!

 

G'day Brian..

I'm an age pensioner, not disability.. but you have my full sympathy when dealing with Centrelink. Sorry to say they are generally a bunch of unemployable morons - but you know that, don't you!

I've had a quick look at your regulations and as per usual there is an 'out' for them when they use the word 'MAY' be required to be a resident of Aus, in order to continue to receive your pension. Lets hope there is sufficient precedent to establish overseas receipt of payment to counteract that.

FYI I had to fight, fight, and then fight some more just to get my pension thanks to the numb-nut who first assessed me. They tried to say my 3 month holiday in the Philppines constituted no longer living in Aus! The first level of appeal is mind-numbingly stupid.. it goes back to the person who made the original decision. Fat chance of them making a change.. lol

Two more appeals later I was assessed as merely being on holiday with a return ticket and my pension was granted. Move forward a year and although I support my Pinay wife 100%, some genius in Centrelink decided to reduce my pension from 'single' to the lesser payment of 'married' rate as we 'benefited' from 'sharing' assets and income! What did they not understand about 100% support?

Back to the appeals once more. First, failed; second failed; lastly appealed to Social Security Appeals Tribunal. A very helpful and understanding lady, after having all 31 pages of my Centrelink file sent to me, telephone me here in the Philippines for an interview which lasted about one hour.

My file contained several errors; misstatements, and wrong information - so make sure you get and check your file carefully. The final decision in my favour was based on a previous legal precedent that recognises 100% support as grounds for the higher single rate pension payments. Section 24 Discretion is the critical matter if you have a similar support situation to me.

I don't know how much of what I have written is going to be of use to you, but take a look at this website if you haven't already. Home | AusPensioner Forum (incl. DSPoverseas) It looks like you will find information that will help you and some support from others in a similar position as yourself.

For now I'm OK and my payments go into my Aussie bank regular as clockwork. Centrelink knows I'm overseas, but I still maintain a presence and bank account in Aus to be on the safe side.

I hope everything works out well for you in your struggle with the evil Centrelink monster - 'We're here to help you' - yeah!,, right.. :D

 

I found this on a Page in my browsing tonight and would like confirmation if this information below is indeed how it stands as of today for me to gain permanent residency in the Philippines where I can plan my own return to visit relatives without HAVING to leave each year to be able to stay and not lose my Australian Citizenship and Pension; if so this gives me somewhere to start with a ray of hope

Vicmico; I am still waiting for a reply from the Philippines Embassy here in Oz regards my enquiry. Apparently the 'go slow' method also applies on Oz...


How can I live in Philippines permanently?

You are eligible for two of the most convenient visas available:
the Balikbayan Visa
and the 13(A) Resident Visa.

The Balikbayan Visa is like the 21-day Tourist Visa stamp that you get at the airport… in the respect that it is also stamped at the airport upon entering the country (it’s not a visa in which you apply for at the BI office) and it’s free.

The difference is, that instead of giving you only 21 days in the Philippines, it gives you one year.

You never have to pay anything, and you never have to visit the BI office. The requirement for the Balikbayan Visa is that you must be the spouse or the unmarried child under 21 years of age of a Philippines citizen, you must show satisfactory proof of your relationship to the Philippines citizen, and the Philippines citizen MUST be travelling with you.

So even if you are married to a Filipino, if your spouse is not physically with you when you enter the country, you cannot get the Balikbayan Visa. If your spouse is physically with you but you don’t have your marriage certificate, you cannot get the Balikbayan Visa.

This visa is, in my opinion, the most convenient and most affordable (it’s free) visa for a foreigner married to a Filipino, it’s only a temporary visa, it’s not a resident visa.

The 13(A) Resident Visa is an Immigrant Visa available to a foreigner who is married to a Philippines citizen.

If you are planning to move to the Philippines permanently, this would be the visa that you should get. It’s permanent, you never have to leave the country, you never have to renew it or extend it. And no, you will not lose your citizenship in your home country.

You will need to bring to the BI office an authenticated copy your spouse’s birth certificate from the National Statistic’s Office (NSO), a NSO authenticated copy of your marriage certificate, a notarized letter from your spouse petitioning the BI to allow you to receive the 13(A) Resident Visa, a copy of your passport, and again, patience.

The cost can run from P10,000 to P15,000 or more depending on how easy or difficult it is to get all your documents.

After you submit all your documents, the processing time might be one to two months or longer. If you are approved, you will get a Probationary 13(A) Resident Visa which is good for one year. After one year, if you don’t get into any trouble, you can convert it to a Permanent 13(A) Resident Visa by going back to the BI office and paying about another P10,000 in fees and handing in the required documents (pretty much the same documents as you submitted the first time).

 

Hi Brian,

the procedures you quoted are describing the route we took: My wife and I arrived in Manila and got our Balikbayan stamps (the wife didn't even have a Phil. passport anymore and travelled, like me, on her Dutch passport) after showing our marriage certificate. It's indeed for free, and you can extend it every 2 months after the year expires. Some opt for taking a short trip out of the country and upon return getting another years' worth of Balikbayan visa, but that seemed too much of a hassle to us, so we started the process of getting a residents visa (13A) for me. It required the wife to get her Phil. passport again (including requesting permission for dual citizenship and taking the oath of allegiance), as she is the person requesting the issuance of a 13A visa for her spouse as a Phil citizen. The cost (except for airfare and hotel costs) was indeed just under PHP 10,000, and we are waiting for my name to pop up on the website of the BI as accepted for probationary residency. Both my wife and I will retain our Dutch citizenship - she now has dual citizenship, but for me nothing changes. I'll just be authorized to live in the Phils. permanently.
The speed you refer to is apparently not limited to (Government) offices in-country: it must be one of the official procedures. Give it a week or 2, 3 and if you haven't heard something by then, try to call. If you don't know what patience is, you'll learn quickly when you're here.
I would advise you to at least have your wife get all her paperwork together: She'll need to provide her birth certificate and the marriage certificate, both NSO authenticated! Obtaining those will also take some time, especially when there are errors (typo's) in one or both documents that need to be corrected first. It took my wife more than a year to get het birth certificate corrected!!
Hope this is of assistance. Good luck,
Vicmico