New Immigration Bill Moves To The Philippine Senate

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

Does anyone know if the balikbayan privilege is affected by the new immigration bill that Passed the PI House? I couldn't find mention of BB anywhere.

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

Crickets? :-)))))

[flicks1998 1,044]

12 minutes ago, boris64 said:

Crickets? :-)))))

Do you have a link?  The only thing I have seen on this was a "Modernization of the Immigration system" for BI, which involved the possibility of raising salaries.  I know pre-Covid, BI was working on changing rules or offering different visas that were targeted at Remote workers, but then Covid came and Im not sure where that stands.  I do know that BI did issue a warning to "Youtubers" and the like about a month ago that they need to remain compliant based on the rules that had which most had 9a's which does not allow them to work or generate revenue.  

Edited August 3, 2021 by flicks1998

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

11 minutes ago, flicks1998 said:

Do you have a link?  The only thing I have seen on this was a "Modernization of the Immigration system" for BI, which involved the possibility of raising salaries.  I know pre-Covid, BI was working on changing rules or offering different visas that were targeted at Remote workers, but then Covid came and Im not sure where that stands.  I do know that BI did issue a warning to "Youtubers" and the like about a month ago that they need to remain compliant based on the rules that had which most had 9a's which does not allow them to work or generate revenue.  

I have not been able to find a full copy of the bill on line. Reading what I have found the proposed law just defines the categories of visas a little better and some internal reorganization as you mentioned. Opinion seems to be divided on whether the 30 day visa on arrival for some countries will be DOA. There has been little discussion on how this new law will affect the balikbayan privilege as it applies to foreign husbands travelling to the Philippines with their spouses. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. I have a firm retirement date for next summer. We have bought some land and are itching to get going) My plan was to enter and then apply for the 13A visa. I was considering the SRRV but it seems almost worthless during any type of crisis. Like everything in the Philippines time will sort things out.

Edited August 3, 2021 by boris64

[flicks1998 1,044]

3 minutes ago, boris64 said:

I have not been able to find a full copy of the bill on line. Reading what I have found the proposed law just defines the categories of visas a little better and some internal reorganization as you mentioned. Opinion seems to be divided on whether the 30 day visa on arrival for some countries will be DOA. There has been little discussion on how this new law will affect the balikbayan privilege as it applies to foreign husbands travelling to the Philippines with their spouses. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. I have a firm retirement date for next summer. We have bought some land and are itching to get going) My plan was to enter and then apply for the 13A visa. I was considering the SRRV but it seems almost worthless during any type of crisis. Like everything in the Philippines time will sort things out.

Yes I havent seen the details of the bill either and it may still get modified while it goes through the Senate.  

 

The 30 day "visa on arrival" has been brought up in the past, maybe sometime around the 2017-18 timeframe.  It started with empty threats from Duterte that if countries were going to require FIlipino citizens to apply for visas, then those same countries citizens would have to apply for a visa coming to the Philippines.  Essentially what he wanted was the US (and alot of other countries) to allow visa free travel and if not, then US citizens etc would require a visa.  At that time, there was alot of false rumors on Facebook that Filipinos would be able to travel to the US, Europe, etc without a visa but everyone was getting ahead of themselves.  I know Japan did change their visa rules slightly to accommodate Filipinos to come to Japan as tourists for a limited period of time.  Not sure how well that worked out for them though.

 

I know alot of people on SRRV's and all of them were surprised when Covid came that they had no priority for staying or coming back into the country.  Many actually had retired there and had no other homes, yet many could not even get back into the country until recently.  Many of the ones I know have decided to leave permanently due to this.  As for the BB privilege, I dont see that changing much or at the most, maybe they rename the program or make slight alterations.  This is a family based visa and I dont think the government wants to make it more difficult for their own citizens who are married to foreigners.  However across the SE Asia region, many countries have been making it harder for retirees, for example Thailand, Cambodia, etc. but these visas could be obtained not based on family.

 

If your going to retire in the Philippines, I still think youll be able too.  One of the biggest culprits to updating the immigration system has been the blatant abuse by the Chinese.  They have abused practically every visa available to them.  I know BI eventually made it possible for Chinese to enter on 9a's (without getting a pre-approved visa) but they were not allowed to extend the 9a in-country essentially giving them a firm 30 day stay.  

 

During my time doing immigration work in the Philippines, I always found the BI to be extremely strict in their immigration policies if rules were broken.  It was not uncommon for foreigners to be blacklisted and deported.  In fact, I found BI to be many times more strict than US immigration. 

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, boris64 said:

I have not been able to find a full copy of the bill on line. Reading what I have found the proposed law just defines the categories of visas a little better and some internal reorganization as you mentioned. Opinion seems to be divided on whether the 30 day visa on arrival for some countries will be DOA. There has been little discussion on how this new law will affect the balikbayan privilege as it applies to foreign husbands travelling to the Philippines with their spouses. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. I have a firm retirement date for next summer. We have bought some land and are itching to get going) My plan was to enter and then apply for the 13A visa. I was considering the SRRV but it seems almost worthless during any type of crisis. Like everything in the Philippines time will sort things out.

I havent had a chance to watch this video yet, but there may be additional information in here.

 

 

[flicks1998 1,044]

1 hour ago, boris64 said:

I have not been able to find a full copy of the bill on line. Reading what I have found the proposed law just defines the categories of visas a little better and some internal reorganization as you mentioned. Opinion seems to be divided on whether the 30 day visa on arrival for some countries will be DOA. There has been little discussion on how this new law will affect the balikbayan privilege as it applies to foreign husbands travelling to the Philippines with their spouses. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. I have a firm retirement date for next summer. We have bought some land and are itching to get going) My plan was to enter and then apply for the 13A visa. I was considering the SRRV but it seems almost worthless during any type of crisis. Like everything in the Philippines time will sort things out.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GXaWe3o2OStj5yBz8Z7nz5se_JT4pBgb/view?fbclid=IwAR21kkESLGAvE5M_xwyR42XHuu186u_iPbWnfV73R5KXoaSjsusxeVFrx5k

 

Thats the 51-page House bill.  Ill read it over the next week.  Seems they are going to introduce a Health visa, A-3.  I had heard rumors on that a few years ago and the joke at the time was who is going to come to the PI for Health reasons.   Most of the people I know, even myself, went to Hong Kong or Singapore for anything beyond a routine doctors appointment.

[Joe Kano 327]

2 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

During my time doing immigration work in the Philippines, I always found the BI to be extremely strict in their immigration policies if rules were broken.  It was not uncommon for foreigners to be blacklisted and deported.  In fact, I found BI to be many times more strict than US immigration. 

BI is very strict compared to USA.  If you are over staying a visa then you have hotline you can call or text and get a reward

[Joe Kano 327]

Are the gonna to bust all the youtubers from around the world who are living in Philippines, and making all those videos and selling stuff online like coffee mugs, or books on how to pick up woman in the Philippines?

[Joe Kano 327]

Here is the dude I enjoy watching on Youtube, he seems level headed and he doesn't get on there and promote Philippines as the best place in the world to live or retire, he keeps it real.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnsXA-Xd7Fo

[Talako 778]

Here is the 79 page bill from the Philippine Senate.

 

http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lis/bill_res.aspx?congress=18&q=SBN-1649

 

You'll need to click the .pdf link.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Talako

[Talako 778]

You have the bill, but it is hard to say what the regulations will be. 

[Talako 778]

3 hours ago, boris64 said:

I have not been able to find a full copy of the bill on line. Reading what I have found the proposed law just defines the categories of visas a little better and some internal reorganization as you mentioned. Opinion seems to be divided on whether the 30 day visa on arrival for some countries will be DOA. There has been little discussion on how this new law will affect the balikbayan privilege as it applies to foreign husbands travelling to the Philippines with their spouses. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this plays out. I have a firm retirement date for next summer. We have bought some land and are itching to get going) My plan was to enter and then apply for the 13A visa. I was considering the SRRV but it seems almost worthless during any type of crisis. Like everything in the Philippines time will sort things out.

I'm looking at something similar.  I will be punching out early around May or June of next year.  My wife got her US passport in the mail yesterday, so the last two steps to work on are her dual citizenship and her other passport.

 

Why would you wait for the 13A?  Do it here in the US once rather than twice there.  (Assuming that the process isn't jacked upped later when processing returns.)  

[Kby175 115]

13A is much easier to get while you are still in the states than getting it over in the Philippines, the 13a in the Philippines will require two office visits to obtain. Here you just submit the requirements and get the visa and travel to the Philippines and you are done for the most part.  

[Hank_ 9,174]

On 8/2/2021 at 5:56 PM, boris64 said:

Does anyone know if the balikbayan privilege is affected by the new immigration bill that Passed the PI House? I couldn't find mention of BB anywhere.

Nope.  The BB privilege is granted by presidential E.O.

 

 Laws can not be written that affect or alter an E.O. (Presidential Executive Order).    (this is lightly touched in in the video linked of Pea)

 

 

Edited August 4, 2021 by Hank_