Retirement Visa COURTESY SRRV FOR VETERANS (US VETS AND OTHERS)

I have my early stage cats checked by Dr Tarongoy of Aces Eye Referral Clinic (cat & glaucoma, much of education in US), local office same complex next door to Lee Hypermarket. There is a room marked "surgery" there, but i wouldn't guarantee that you don't have to go to Cebu office. Dr T only in Dmgt two days a month. Recommended by Dr Bregado, optometrist at Eye Browse in Robinson's.

 

Thank-you for sharing this info with the Forum!

nwlivewire

 

@DaveD,

Can you tell me more about how to get a FPO to receive US mail?

 

Just posted a note on the SRRV Renewal for a Courtesy (Military) on the other SRRV posting:
Retirement Visa - Special Resident Retirement Visa (SRRV)

 

I don't think a notary can certify a federal document anyway. Official records at any level of government have to come from the office that holds the records. But it you look at the DD214, I believe there is a printed seal and a signature. Years ago, I lost my original DD214 and ordered replacements from their Records Office in St. Louis. They just sent photopies anyway. I brought one of those photocopies (no original ink on it anywhere) to the Philippine consulate and they accepted it without any problem. Once the consulate accepts it and places their ribbon/grommet/seal, it is usable in the Philippines.

 

You are correct in that a regular notary cannot certify a federal document. I had the same issue with my "original DD214" and my letter from soc security verifying my entitlement. I am not sure which "agency" in the US has to certify them-but--if you just bring the original documents and make an appointment with the Manila Embassy they will stamp/endorse it in a manner that PRA is accepting. I was running out of time so I visited the embassy. If I had more time I may have reached out to the appropriate consulate to ask whose endorsement they would accept. My FBI report I had sent directly for apostile and it was accepted.

 

The Philippines is not a signatory to the Apostille Convention, so nothing I submitted to the PRA had been apostilled since it's not recognized legally in the Philippines. I submittted everything to the Consulate in New York. The notarized medical report had to go first to the County Clerk to have the notary's seal certified authentic by the County Clerk.

I had submitted the downloadable certification of my Social Security benefits right from my printer. No further certifications or signatures.

I submitted my DD-214, which was a photocopy (with no addition signatures or seals) of the original I received from the Records Office in St. Louis.

The Consulate accepted everything, including the FBI report procured through an authorized channeler, as submitted.

Later that day, I got all the documents back with an approval by the Consul to use the documents in the Philippines legally. That is all the PRA needs. Apostille is a waste of time and money for Philippine matters.

 

While your mileage may vary, my timeline through this process was fairly quick.

I filled out the application online months in advance of my arrival in Manila. Carried all my paperwork (sealed and red-ribboned by the Phlippine Consulate in New York) and two cashier's checks ($1,400 application fee and $1,500 time deposit) to Manila. On September 1, 2016, I submitted everything to the PRA, including the receipts for the checks (the receiving cashier is on the same floor a couple doors down the hall). This completed the application. They told me I would wait at least one month to six weeks.

I left Manila for Dumaguete the next day. The PRA kept my passport and gave me a offical-stamped photocopy of my passport which worked everywhere without question during the interim. (I was nervous about that, but it turned out to be needless.) I even opened an account at BDO in Dumaguete using the photocopied passport and other US identification.

I got a phone call from the PRA about two weeks later telling me the Bureau of Immigration (BOI) had approved the application and had converted my visitor visa into an SRRV, so I no longer had to worry about overstaying the 30 days. They told me it would take at least another week for the PRA to complete the process and have my card ready for me.

A week later (three weeks total after my completed application), I received a phone call telling me to come to the PRA office to sign final paperwork and receive my card and certificate. I asked if it was necessary to travel there immediately, and they said no need to hurry. I could come at my convenience. Since I had a trip by air planned to Lagazpi City the following week, I just changed my ticket to allow for a day in Manila. I had the SRRV and passport in my eager hands by the first week in October.

 

It's been over a year, but I got my DD214 (Release from Active Duty) "notarized" at the US Consulate in Cebu at the Waterfront Hotel, and then my "certified expeditor" had it "authenticated" (red ribbon thingy) prior to submittal to PRA at the Dept of Foreign Affairs in Manila, as DFA Cebu or Dumaguete do NOT authenticate. Whole thing took about a month from submittal to PRA Cebu and receipt of SRRV card, which is good everywhere, unless some cranky clerk insists on a Dumaguete Senior Card, which is NOT issued to foreigners...

Also, my DD214 was a scan file without a visible stamp and i had no problem, but again, some "cranky clerk" might xxxxx...