I am a sailor working on US flagged ships and am interested in living in the philippines during my off time ,about 3 months at a time. Can somebody please give me advice on visa requirement's and housing options?
Philippines - 4 Answers
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1 :
You can start by buying a condo, foreigners are allowed by law to own a unit. If you are lucky, single and willing-marry a Filipina and your options are much wider. However there are pitfalls there so research well. And by conventional wisdom, don't forget not to place your eggs in one basket.Yappers here may give you more advice so stay tuned. Good luck.
2 :
Hello Bones As an American, you will be granted a 21 day visa waiver on arrival in the Philippines, so long as you have an onward ticket to another country and 6 months validity in your passport. If you want to stay longer than 21 days, you can arrange an extension. The first extension is for 38 days. After that, extensions can be arranged 2 months at a time until you have been in the Philippines for 16 months. Read more here: http://www.bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com/visas.htm It will be hard to arrange a lease for just 3 months. My suggestion is that you live in a hotel or live in condo style accommodation in a hotel for 3 months. For instance, when I live in Cebu City, I stay in a family room in the Cebu Century Hotel. It is low class but I am happy there. It is P18,000 (about usd $370 on the current exchange rate) per month. For P18,000 I have a 32 square metre (344 square foot) room with; 3 beds, private bathroom, aircon, cable tv with about 60 channels, free local telephone calls, internet and room service until 3am. Some one makes up the room every day. Living at the Cebu Century hotel means not having to worry about any utility bills. I just pay the rent then after that, my only expense is dining and entertainment. Read more here: http://bigjimsphilippinesexperience.com/blog/?p=15 If you want better class accommodation in Cebu City, there are hotels with 1 bedroom condos starting at about usd $500 per month. In the future, when you have a Filipina girlfriend, you could set her up in an apartment and live with her when you are not working. By the way, you may find it so cheap to live in the Philippines that you end up only working a few months of the year and spend the rest of the year relaxing in the Philippines. I hope this helps! Regards; Jim Sibbick
3 :
You won't have any problems extending your visa beyond you forst 21 day stay. There are Immigration offices scatterd throughout the Philippines so your not limited to Cebu or Manilla. There are smaller cities like Iloilo or Bacold that both have Bi offices for extensions or you can use a travel agency to get your extension for you for a small fee. As to where to stay like Jim said it's very hard to find someone willing to do only a 90 day lease. Your best bet is staying at a pension house. They are like motel 6's. Private room with aircon, private shower and catv for $350 a month.
4 :
No problemo. An American passport will give you entry with a three week visa you can extend for two or more months at a time. Lots of hotels in all price ranges with and without amenities. There are great resorts if you want to spend the money. You can live cheap enough here if that's how you want to live. Plenty of month to month rentals Try Cebu. I love it here.
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