As you can see I'm interested in living and working abroad,so I'm trying to aquire all of the info i can.Thanks for your help guys and gals
Philippines - 4 Answers
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1 :
I'm in the same situation as you actually. What I found out: To live there: You can get a visa which is good for 59 days. And then just before it expires you can keep on renewing it for maybe like a $40 fee and it renews for 2 months. Can continue doing that and stay in the country up to 364 days. Have to leave the country at least once a year, but you can leave and come back and repeat the process as many times as you want. As for working: I heard you either have to file for like a 13A Visa (which means you have a filipino wife/husband) or have a contract with a company set up before you arrive. Otherwise, you cannot legally work there. That's what I heard anyway from some Filipinos. Hope this helps. Good luck.
2 :
Unless you will be working for a US-based (or other countries other than the Philippines) it will be hard to find work in the Philippines if you are not Filipino. It is already hard for most FIlipinos to get a job there much less compete with foreigners. But if you are lucky and be employed by a company from your own country, your company will have to get a work visa for you, or if you plan on investing (note that foreigners are NOT allowed to own any property in the Philippines in case you are thinking of BUYING) you will need the 13a visa, and you'll be putting in a bond (that you may or may not get back). FOreigners can enter the country for 21 days without overstaying, the first extension will give you a total of 59 days, after that you can renew the visa every 2 months, but you will have to exit the country every 365 days of total stay in the Philippines. I don't know why, this is how it's done there. GOodluck.
3 :
in order to work in phills u either have to contracted outside the country and brought in by the company (which they would provide the work permit for you along with ur other paperwork) or you will have to obtain a work permit urself thru a 13a visa (permanat resident, meaning u are married to a philipino citizen) total cost for a 13a visa runs about 600 to 1,000 dollars if u do it yourself and about 2,000 $ if u hire a lawyer , basicly the process for a 13a would be local police checks, NBI check (they will also run a police check on you in your home country) medical exam, (stool samples and chest x-ray and aids test , they are basiclly looking to see if u have any infectious dieases)a writen letter from ur spose requesting ur permanat residence. total time takes about 1 week start to finish if you do it yourself and about anywhere from 1 week to 3 months waiting time. once the 13a finished then you can go back to imigration and file for a work permit which takes 2 weeks to 1 month. the whole process there is very slow unless you press the issue and get it done urself. nothing is keeped on computers there and every office always has another form or process that they want you to fill out. once the 13a visa is started you can go get a job and get hired as they will usally let you work and give them the work permit when its finished (if you are in manila and you are american or 1st language is english you wont have a problem working in a call center for a pay of about 200 to 400 $ per month or 10k to 20k php.minimum wage is 5$ per day there or 250 php for a total of about 5k php per month) as far as living there u can stay in phils on either a turist visa (in which you cant work.) or a 13a (permanat residant) for a turist visa it costs about 300$ per year after all the updates and extentions are paid. depending on what lifestyle you prefer expect to spend about 400$ per month minimum to live a decent life there and up to 1,000$ per month if you need a more american lifestyle. an clean small apartment will run about 100 to 200$ per month rent, food is cheap ranging from 1$ to eat a philipino meal up to 2$ for a mcdonalds value meal up to 15$ to 20$ for a steak at chili's . i lived in manila for 2 years with my wife and we lived very comfortable on a budget of about 400$ per month which included eating out 3 to 4 meals a week at a resturant.and a/c and cable tv and internet. we own our own house so we didnt have to pay rent and we didnt buy a car there as there is planty of transportation there via busses, jeepneys,MRT, ect. if you do need your own transportation i would sugjest a scooter as car are way way overpriced. living in the philippines is a nice relaxed place to live but...i would not recomend trying to make a living there and only living there if a) you have an income from another country such as s.s. or rent from a house or anything or b) you are already rich and dont need money.
4 :
All the above is valid, but if you're into the scuba business you'll pick up something to keep you going, and you can also find a company to sponsor you for a 9G visa, which is pretty open as far as casual work is involved. If you have any computer skills or something where you could help other expats with problems, then that is the best way to go. Work from home and keep quiet about it. You can live very well here for 1000usd a month if you're not in Manila or Cebu.
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