Retirement Visa Best Posts in Thread: Special Resident Retirement Visa (SRRV)

I still have the SRRV - the PRA interest is annotated on the TCF of the house and lot. Providing I don't sell or mortgage the house, the visa stands (subject to the annual $360 renewal fee). If I sell or mortgage the house I would have to deposit the $20000 again, until such time as I had another house. So basically, to keep the visa you have to have either a house / lot / condo valued at >PHP2 mil OR $20000 in the PRA escrow account.

 

I could not see any benefit in any of the other SRV. I was required to deposit 20k USD into an account here - I had heard of one bank here crashing and the depositors losing their cash - furthermore that 20k in the account accrued virtually zero interest - and there were still a few fees on top of that every year that i was expected to pay. 20kUSD would earn me anywhere between 4% and 7% in my own countries bank deposit or bluechip stocks - maybe I could expect about 1.2k per annum 0r 40k peso which easily covers the tourist visa and alien ID and I could grab my 20kusd whenever I needed. I saw no real upside with any SRV apart from that offered to US military vets here

 

I might also add that there are several colleges and universities in the Philippines that qualify for usage of your Education benefits under the Veteran Affairs (VA) GI Bill program.

If you, your spouse, or your children have eligibility under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, you (or they) can utilize their Post 9/11 GI Bill in the Philippines.

See the following websites for further information:

Request Rejected

(click on your country of choice and a list of VA approved schools will come up) Not every "major" in the schools listed are approved - you must continue to dig deeper to find out if that major is approved.

Request Rejected

These are the listed schools eligible for GI Bill usage. Again, not all majors are already pre-approved, so you have to do a little homework to make sure your major is approved.

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Here is the example of GI Bill usage for Silliman University in Dumaguete.

Under the Post 9/11 GI Bill, if you were to attend an approved FULL-TIME course of study in an approved major at this school, then you (or your eligible Post 9/11 GI Bill Dependents) would receive an educational "stipend" pay of 1,566 USD per month (TAX FREE) for each month of the school year (usually 8 months duration per school year as the GI Bill DOES NOT pay during Christmas/Spring breaks, or if you take Summers off).

If you attend as a 3/4 time student rate of attendance, then you would receive 80% of the full time rate stipend rate for 8 school months per year (roughly 1,253 USD per month for 8 months traditional school per year).

Of course, you could attend school year-round and get about 10 1/2 - 11 months TAX FREE stipend pay per GI Bill "fiscal year". The GI Bill "Fiscal Year" begins on 01 AUG and ends 31 JUL.

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This is the list of approved course work for Silliman University. If you need further clarification, contact the following:

Can I receive VA Education Benefits while attending school in a foreign country?

How do I find out if my program at a foreign school is approved for VA benefits

If the program I chose is not approved, how can my school officials apply for approval?


GI Bill Comparison Tool

This is the GI Bill site that can give you an "ESTIMATE" on your benefit.

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Don't know if you're interested in college - just putting this possible option out there for you. You can use your GI Bill in the Philippines and receive your GI Bill "stipend" as additional US tax free income while you are here, US Dollars that can become additional dollars in your pocket which can supplement your current retirement dollars during your transition.

Thank-you for serving! You have earned every penny coming to you!

V/R,
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