While in Duma I tried to open a joint bank account at Metrobank only to be turned down as I did not have a Registration Card but only the Immigration Card which I filled in when arriving in the Phils. My understanding is that such card is only required if staying 59 days or over.....furthermore as a Balikbayan one does not require a visa for up to 1 year stay. The person at the till was unmovable....no card no account. Where in Duma do you apply for the Registration Card, how long does it take and how long is it valid for (yearly renew?) and what are the fees? The system is contraddictory to say the least, I'll try to open it at a branch here in London, if it can be used in the Phils to deposit or withdraw that is...
If you arrived on a balikbayan visa then have your wife go with you to open the account and add you as a signer. That is how we did it. I tried to apply for my acr-i card at the local immigration office and they said I had to wait till I renewed my visa and would not let me apply. Not sure if that is correct but that is what they told us. Edit to add that we ended up going to a different bank since they would not let is open a dollar account unless we had a peso account for 6 months first. We went to PNB and opened a dollar account in 30 min. We later found out just how slow to get a check cleared they are. We have been thinking about going to the Union Bank as they have gotten good reviews from the expat community here on DI
Hi Tom, you're right, for that matters I've gotten a PNB account already set up with my wife. Maybe my posting was not to the point....Relatives have a Metrobank account up and running where my wife had deposited money into. The idea was to add our names to it so that we can access it. She was successful I was not for the reasons I've mentioned. Sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks again for the reply mate.
US-drawn checks actually only take about a week to clear...it is just that the banks usually place a hold on the checks after they have cleared. BDO is the fastest in my experience...1 week to clear, then a 10 business day hold...total about 3 weeks. Does anyone knows of any banks that don't place a hold on foreign checks once they have cleared?
