Long stay in the Philippines, explain?
 

I'm currently in Thailand and they just changed the immigration laws making it quite a pain to stay here. I am ok because my wife is Thai, but I have some friends and family members with me here for whom it's a bit harder.

I saw on some website that one is granted a 21 days entry stamp on arrival which can be extended, etc. I know that some GFYers are expat in the Philippines and was wondering if one could elaborate on the best way to stay 1+ year there. How are the visa runs working, can you extend your stay from inside the country, etc.

i heard that you can just stay in the country as long as you like just pay a few bucks to extend your visa... unlike Thailand, the flips like our money.

and if your friends just go get their visas from their home country for thailand they should be OK... if they're broke bastards they just well may be fucked.

yeah well it's a bit the case - and I don't want to play the walking ATM and fund the trips of some family member to accomodate them. Plus, I could use to travel a bit and maybe see the Philippines for a year or something... Thailand is boring for a married man.

bump for the philippines time zone :)

dunno what to tell ya ace

from what ive heard you can stay as long as you like but once you try and exit the country thats it. you can't re-enter.

You can extend your visa through an agent and with payment.

Right agent, pay more, longer extension.

I had 6 months for about $250.

2c

if you stay over the visiting visa you pay a fine (200 bucks) when you try to leave. Whether it be 5 days or 6 months.

No one hear would check a visa and if they did, could be bought for that price anyway.

Like kman said...money plays.

Weird thing is, if you do get a work visa it'll cost you more $/year. One of my friends runs a call center here and hasnt had a single problem in 4 years. He leaves the country to go back to the states once a year, every year, and pays his taxes.

legitimately it's more expensive but if they can get extensions i'd say do it. Just in case

You need to extend your stay every 2 months up to 1 year and need to leave the country there after and then you return for another year. Many retired people do that for years ....

When married to a Filipina wife you get a one year entry stamp when you enter the country together with your wife.

I can get you in contact with a good lawyer out there If you would like.

apparently if you invest 80k usd in teh country (in the stock market or anywhere) you get some kind of business visa that lets you stay indefinitely...

u just pay when you leave .. right at the first step of checkin. or if you have an attorney, they can handle it :)

Yeah, but your problem is that a lot of people will know that you have some chocolate under your bed. They might want to help you to get rid of it. :(

The overstay that you pay upon leaving - don't you get a "person non grata" or get on the country's blacklist or something?

So far it sounds like money talks. Might as well try the Philippines sometimes, the smiling ones are getting on my nerves.

Thuuuuuuuuuuurbs!!!!

This is bad, i was going to live there for a year.

In Thailand? you can do it. You'll have to come here with a Non-Immigrant Type-B visa. You'll have to get a company in Thailand that will sponsor you - saying that you come here with the intend of investing money and what not.

This lawfirm can handle it all, they'll send you the papers and you can get your 1 year multi-entry visa for thailand with it. http://www.lawyer.th.com/

And you don't have to bring some money with you for bussiness. Like 30000 for example?