Hello, Im 27 years old and i pretty much think I do not qualify for any other visa besides the tourist one which is what I believe to be 21 days then must extend it every so often to have a complete stay of one year. One problem with that though is a lot of people are saying it is only six months, but then I read a post in this forum saying it is now 24 months. Ive tried to come up with some solutions as to where I can stay in the country for many years. Could one option be: 1. When the 6month/1year/2year (which ever it is) tourist visa expires, am I able to exit the country then re-enter the country (within a period of a few days) then start the process all over again? I dont see what other options I have than just staying the one year other than that. I dont want to get married to a filipina because for one im too young, two i probably wont end up doing it because of love, and three I dont know anything about the laws that would protect my assets after an annulment. My initial plan was to buy a house and also start a studio and hire local educated filipinos to help run my online business, but after studying up some on the "owning property issue" I buried those thoughts. So the obvious I cant qualify for pretty much any of the visas right? Or am I wrong? The option I have of just staying and paying some sort of fee when I leave, but I do not want to risk getting deported. I want to be able to get a bank account there, rent a house, meet people, start a studio and hire locals to help build my company. Could anyone tell me if this is possible? I made so much arrangements and had a plan of being there for more than just 6 months to a year. Any help would be great. Thanks. (Also can someone tell me if a travel agent can extend my visa for me? Going through all the hassle at the embassy seems a bit much and If I can get a travel agent to do it each time than that would be great.)
You can extend your 21 day visa at the immigration office here. It takes about 5 - 10 minutes. The extension is always for 2 month, up to 24 month. Most people want to leave once in 2 years for a holiday anyway and being in the middle of SE Asia, many chaep flights to other asian countries are available. According to your post, money does not matter that much. Basically you can get a business visa (don't know the exact name and am to lazy to google around). You also can own buildings and lease land. Bank account is no problem. cheers Rhoody
reply Thanks so much Rhoody any other advice would be great. Also does anyone know if my company must be registered in the u.s. and the philippines in order to apply for the business visa? Although I am unsure If everything will work out concerning building a small little studio there so business visa might be ruled out later.
Hi Rhoody, are you sure about the 24 months? Last time I checked I could only extend for 12 months. Did that change lately? How are you doing it with the tickets? I have already problems to find a good airline with a 1-year ticket roundtrip from germany. Or do you enter with a 1-way ticket? Regards
Martillio, yes I am sure with the 24 month. It has been changed 2007 in August, exactly 6 days before my "visa-run", but I booked and paid everything already. Entering the Philippines with a one-way ticket is no problem. The problem is leaving your country with a one-way ticket, That might cause problems at the check-inn. I used an open ticket with Gulf-Air the first time from Germany (2001) it was valid for one year and you need to ask the GA office in Manila around 2 month before your planned return-flight. In 2006 I used a one way ticket, as it is not required to have a return-ticket, Just a ticket to leave the PI again. This could be a cheap ferry ticket to Malaysia (actually a email-confirmation is enough) or to be 100% safe (and don't mind spending 60 Euro extra) you can purchase a Air Asia or Cebu Pacific ticket online to a neighbor-country. 60 Euro extra is not that much if you can stay 2 years in another country in the world without any troubles. cheers Rhoody
Thanks Rhoody, I think the trouble will be with the check in @ us departure airport. I found a Filippino travel agency here in Houston where the owner travels to the Philippines frequently and he booked a ticket for us oneway but with a round trip intinary (spelling) we'll see if that works.
