How many days per year may I visit the Philippines? (Merged threads)

[Spicy Chickenjoy 14]

6 hours ago, widude said:

 I was under the impression one has the 30 days. If needed, leave the country, fly back, the 30 days starts over. 
 

 

I visit the Philippines twice a year and my trips are usually a month and a half. This is exactly what I do - Ieave the country for a week (usually to a new country nearby that I haven’t visited yet) and come back.

Edited June 23 by Spicy Chickenjoy

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

Slightly off-topic, but I figured many of you would have done this during your interactions with the Philippines. I just created an account on the otherwise-excellent eVisaPH website. I filled out all my personal information as required. I triple-checked that everything is correct. However, when I begin a new visa application, for some reason the website populates the Country of Application box with only India! I have no idea why this is happening. There is absolutely no reference to India in my personal information. I am not using a VPN and I'm connecting to the website from Texas. Has anyone run into this problem before?

 

There doesn't seem to be any way to contact them to report a website bug. The Country of Citizenship drop-down list is in several other places on the website and they all auto-populate with only India. Manually typing in United States of America does not work.

 

 

 

Edited June 25 by Nathan Alden, Sr.

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

I reported this to a DFA support email address since I couldn't find a single piece of contact information on the eVisaPH website. I'll see what they say, if anything. This seems like a pretty serious bug.

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

I also discovered that the DFA's visa application website has also been down for maintenance since May 31, 2024. There appears to be no way to actually submit a Philippines visa application at the moment because the government's policy is to use one of these two systems. I emailed the Houston consolate to report the issues and ask for advice.

[top_secret 2,411]

The E-Visa scheme does not apply to American citizens since we are visa exempt on arrival.  Chinese, Indians or maybe some other nationalities need visas for the Philippines and had that open to them.  I imagine the main reason E-Visa's are suspended is political tension between China and the Philippines.  If an American wanted a 9A visa today for some strange reason they need to apply at whatever Philippine consulate or embassy has consular jurisdiction over there home.  Not that I could think of any really good reason why  an American would get one now.

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

Yep, I discovered the alternate way to apply but the Houston consulate directs me to a website that has been "under maintenance" since May 31.

 

From https://houstonpcg.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/consular-services/visa-services:

 

 

[Spicy Chickenjoy 14]

8 hours ago, top_secret said:

The E-Visa scheme does not apply to American citizens since we are visa exempt on arrival.  Chinese, Indians or maybe some other nationalities need visas for the Philippines and had that open to them.  I imagine the main reason E-Visa's are suspended is political tension between China and the Philippines.  If an American wanted a 9A visa today for some strange reason they need to apply at whatever Philippine consulate or embassy has consular jurisdiction over there home.  Not that I could think of any really good reason why  an American would get one now.

Exactly what I was going to say. Does not apply to U.S. citizens since we are eligible for visa free entry.

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

After a ton of research last night, I determined that the better thing to do is enter the country under the 30-day visa exemption, then apply for an extension, and then continue that process as long as necessary.

[Spicy Chickenjoy 14]

8 minutes ago, Nathan Alden, Sr. said:

After a ton of research last night, I determined that the better thing to do is enter the country under the 30-day visa exemption, then apply for an extension, and then continue that process as long as necessary.

Another option is to leave the country for a few days, or as long as you wish, and then fly back. It's a great excuse to take a quick vacation with your fiancé 😁. You'll find that flying to some visa-free countries for both Filipinos and Americans, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, or Hong Kong, is quite affordable.

[Nathan Alden, Sr. 17]

We're actually married. My goal is to immediately apply for the 13(a) visa upon arrival, which means I'd only need to extend my stay for a month or two.

[Spicy Chickenjoy 14]

10 minutes ago, Nathan Alden, Sr. said:

We're actually married. My goal is to immediately apply for the 13(a) visa upon arrival, which means I'd only need to extend my stay for a month or two.

Oh, in that case you would be eligible to enter under the Balikbayan program. You would just need to re-enter the country with your wife and show your marriage certificate. Balikbayan program will allow you to stay in the Philippines for one year without a visa.

[spicynujac 23]

If you want to stay longer than a year and are married, a resident visa is not all that difficult (compared to the US).  Current initial (probationary visa) cost for 13(a) resident visa is $150 USD.  Permanent retiree visa with some special benefits like PhilHealth costs if I recall around $1,500. But I think it's more common people just remain indefinite "tourists".

 

You can just travel abroad together once per year and get the balikbayan stamp on your re-entry.  For shorter stays between 30 days and 1 year just pay the fee to extend your free 1 month tourist visa.  There is no limit on total days, only consecutive days.

 

https://immigration.gov.ph/faqs/

 

I am a foreign national under a Temporary Visitor’s Visa, I can stay legally in the Philippines for thirty (30) days however I want to extend my stay, how do I go about this?

Foreign nationals who are admitted with an initial stay of thirty (30) days may apply for a visa waiver first, granting an additional stay of twenty nine (29) in the Philippines. Thereafter, you may apply for one (1) month, two (2) months or six (6) months extensions at least one week prior to the expiration of your valid stay.

 

How long can I extend my in the Philippines?

36 months (USA)

[RO_AH 1,659]

11 hours ago, Nathan Alden, Sr. said:

After a ton of research last night, I determined that the better thing to do is enter the country under the 30-day visa exemption, then apply for an extension, and then continue that process as long as necessary.

Why would you do a ton of research? This was all explained to you on your other thread.

[RO_AH 1,659]

10 hours ago, Nathan Alden, Sr. said:

We're actually married. My goal is to immediately apply for the 13(a) visa upon arrival, which means I'd only need to extend my stay for a month or two.

Don't do it. If you are going for a 13a it is meant as an immigration visa not a visitors visa. Also if you plan to get a 13a you should always do it at the consulate in US. If your plan is not to move there, get your 30 day visa and extend as needed. If you work on getting your wife her passport, then you guys can take a quick getaway to a close by country as @Spicy Chickenjoy said and return and get a BB stamp good for 1 year. Stop over thinking this.

[powerpuff 6,685]

Closely related threads merged. Please refrain from starting new threads when you have an existing related thread.

 

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