Passports Possibly, 21'000php to renew a Passport?

Hi everybody......

I have a problem with my girlfriend from Dumaguete.

I can't believe my eras when my girlfriend told me that she has spent close to 21'000php only for renew her old Passport in Cebu.....She does to warrant it that she were supposed to visit Cebu twice, coz of absentees papers....


I gave her the whole money ahead to processing a Visa to come to visit me in Switzerland and not only for just a Passport.

My quastion to you guys now is..... is this effort possibly or just a big rip-off?

Thanks in advance!

ps. she never fly to Cebu and traveled just by bus and stayed there only for one night.

 

You ask a difficult question

You are asking us to make a judgement call on very little information, which is difficult and unwise thing for anyone to do. I am assuming you have met her on an online dating site.

If you have met her on line dating site, and never in person then you may want to heed the warning that is usually posted sayings something like "never send money." However it seems most of us have done it at some point in time.

If things move forward to may want to consider sending a plane ticket, but not money for a plane ticket. Get a ticket that is only refundable to yourself, not the passenger.

You will likely find out soon enough, but try to minimize you financial risk versus your emotional pleasures, and fantasies.

Unfortunately it takes time to find out if she is real or not. Have you ever met her in person? Seen her on a cam? Seen her on Facebook? Are you mentioned on here facebook site, or anonymous?

I would suggest you consider funding your own ticket and come and visit the Philippines if you have never been here before, and see and meet real woman of the Philippines. There are lots of nice one here.

 

Hopefully, Shadow or someone here from Switzerland can help you with the visa requirements. Both the requirements for a passport renewal as well as a Swiss visa are available online and both you and her are well advised to study and understand the process and paperwork involved. if in fact she went for a passport renewal and did not have the simple required paperwork with her it could take two trips; to avoid that as aforementioned read the simple requirements.
You are rolling the dice getting into this. We hope you GF is sincere and wants to do all the right things to make a relationship. However, you need to take some responsibility and carefully manage all the affairs and more importantly where your money is going. We have a saying here, "screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me". Good luck.

 

Too expensive..

 

The cost to renew a Philippine passport here is less than 2000 pesos...and it can be done in Dumaguete.... A friend of mine did it 3 months ago.. Maybe you better ask for a list of her expences..Miguel

 

we just did a new p/port in a travel agency in Duma, cost P2,100 including their fee, we did the interview at Bacolod as it was easier and no interview booking required, just P100 for id pics at Bacolod, we had all the requirements already, i think 14 days the p/port was delivered to Duma.

 

1200 peso at the mobile service in Robinson dumaguete plus a few pictures (80 peso) and copies 20 peso ...

tell her to send you a copy of her receipts and tickets. I am sure you will hear 100 excuses why she can't and why there are no original receipts .

Yes, sounds like a rip off, but probably it was NOT the office which ripped off someone ...

 

Just by asking this question your suspicions must have been aroused and alarm bells starting to ring. As others have already said, Philippines passports can readily be applied for in Dumaguete for approximately 2000 peso. You've already paid out 21000 and that's way over the top.

In order to visit Switzerland as a tourist, she will need to get a Schengen Visa. This visa is valid for a stay of up to 90 days. For a visit to Switzerland the visa can only be applied for at the Swiss Embassy in Manila. With effect from 03 October 2012 the cost of the 90 day Schengen Visa for Switzerland is 3400 peso. There is a Swiss Consulate in Cebu, but they do not deal with visas.

Google Swiss Embassy Manila and the web site will direct you to all the relevant pages for visas, and will list all the documentary evidence that she will need to provide.

Be cautious. Good luck.

 

A trip with aircon bus (Ceres liner) cost 270 pesos one way from Dumaguete to Cebu inclusive the 70 pesos ferry.
From the bus terminal to immigration office in Cebu cost around 20 pesos by jeepney or 100/150 pesos by taxi one way.

 

Receipts

I used to ask for receipts. However I got tired of official government receipts with the "Philippines" misspelled on them. I also got tired of receipts from agencies which did not exist or addresses and phone numbers that did not exist. Do not underestimate the ladies of the Philippines. They do know how to use photo shop (or get a friend or their supervisor to do it), but not how to spell. However they are creative.


A better solution than receipts may be the word "no."

Good luck on all of this. It is very challenging here when you are working on the internet (or phone texts). Remember you have no idea where the messages are really coming from from or from who.