seekingthetruth

Just FYI, another comment from a good friend... One of our friends was in this situation. They moved to the Philippines with their two minor children and the fathers minor son a few years back. There was no issue with him receiving balikbayan status as a stepchild. He lived in the Philippines for over five years. However, once he turned eighteen the government required him to leave apply for visitors visa upon return. Instead, he returned to the states for college and found a job where he is currently living.

Sounds good! Regarding onward tickets, that is more about the airline than immigration. Many airlines are strict on the requirement that a passenger has a return ticket or onward ticket out of the Philippines within 30 days. Many don't know about Balikbayan privileges. Some have notes in their system but a supervisor has to been called in to find and approve the waiver. I assume you will have one and your wife does not need one, but for the kids? You will all have one way tickets? There are actually "rent a ticket" services where for 10-12 USD they will loan you an onward ticket. Or, you can seek out a cheap "throwaway" ticket on one of the Philippine airlines. You might find some cheap ones on sale. Even if you are not asked for it, it is cheap insurance. Last resort, if you don't have one and they insist on it, you can buy one on Expedia, show it on your phone, and refund it within 24 hours. Thank you for your service! Enjoy your time in Korea and the Philippines! No chance for your family to be with you in Korea?

I wore a condom. Extra washing down there

Your situation is unusual and I asked about it on a Philippine Expat forum I am active in. Low and behold, we have one member who has done it! I and others have found Balikbayan entry to be rather loose, but your situation is unique, so be prepared with documents. Passports, of course. For the wife, both passports if she has them. Your marriage certificate to your Filipina wife Appropriate document showing dissolution of marriage to the kid's mother (divorce / death) and / or Proof of custody if possible Kid's birth certificates. Do you know about onward ticket requirements? Let me know if you want me to elaborate on that.

I assume the step-children are American citizens. How long will they stay in Philippines?

I don't think this one would ever get made today! A few unwoke lines in there!

Hungry Jack. When I was there I think I looked into it and if I recall correctly, when they started years ago it was done illegally and BK sued, but they worked it out.

They have Woolworth's in AU and NZ! They also had Woolworth in Germany when I lived there.

Strangely, Kmart Australia and New Zealand are doing alright. I've been to a few stores and they were busy, but that was Christmas time. The stores I saw were in major malls. They have a unique self checkout system where everyone ques in a rectangle in the middle of the store, but there are a lot of assistants. Seems to work well and the line moves along quickly. I assume Kmart U.S. licensed the name to them years ago and there are no financial ties to the U.S.

That is easy. Just take her to any democrat run city.

😂🤣😂

Finally, some changes for the better! No One Notices As Entire Cast Of 'The View' Replaced With Shrieking Feral Pigs MANHATTAN, NY — All three people who watch The View were completely unaffected by the talk show's recent decision to replace their entire cast with shrieking feral pigs. Entertainment·Sep 19, 2024 · BabylonBee.com Click here to view this article with reduced ads. Full Story: https://babylonbee.com/news/no-one-notices-as-entire-cast-of-the-view-replaced-with-shrieking-feral-piglets

I agree. This will be a big hardship and increase costs a lot, for many, with a huge burden on those who have to travel far for the appointments. Seems highly unlikely that the appointments could be same day or even synchronized in some way. I'm glad my wife and step-daughter still have a lot years left on their tourist visas. Also, most likely the VAC is outsourced. This is a cost saving move. Many countries outsource the biometrics.

The author does a poor job of keeping illegal alien remittance separate from legal alien remittance. Although he seems to be leaning on illegal alien remittance for taxation, he ends up with "tax remittances" which could mean all remittance. So what about citizen remittance? If you are quoting total remittance figures like India 100 billion, and then breaking them down by U.S. legal status, you might have: Citizen: 75% Legal Alien: 15 % Illegal Alien: 10% Total 100% I'm just throwing those % numbers out there. However, I live in the Philippines where remittance is an important part of the economy. Pre-pandemic, remittance was averaging 9% of Philippine GDP. For 2023, the total was 33.5 billion and 13.7 billion came from the U.S. So how much of that came from Filipino Americans who became U.S. citizens? How much from legal aliens? How much from illegals? While I agree illegals should not be able to just walk in and then earn money and then send it home, (and certainly not to our enemies) the author does not lay out how taxing ONLY illegal remittances would work. How do you track them? Do they have SSN? How do we even know of their tax status? Need a new branch of the IRS? Remittance may be a small part of the incentive for illegal entry to the U.S., but taxation and bigger government is not the answer. Just keep them out the old fashioned way: SECURE THE BORDERS AND SEND THEM BACK. For most groups, sending them back will end most of the incentive to come and they will never earn any money in the U.S. As far as double taxing U.S. citizens and legal aliens on U.S. earned and taxed income used for remittances, hogwash. The government is going to tell us what we can do with our after-tax income? Also, if that ever came about, other countries would retaliate against all the U.S. citizens who work and live overseas. Remittance to your Filipino family is a time honored tradition for Filipinos and is a primary factor for many to go abroad, legally. Filipino culture respects and takes care of their elders, and much of this is done through remittance. The argument that the money is not put back in the U.S. economy is not strong. Only a smaller % of income earned would be sent home. For normal people, you have to take care of your expenses first, spending it in the U.S., and send some leftover home. Of course, if you are illegal, and the government is paying for a nice hotel, food, healthcare and other things, maybe you could send almost all of it home, just saving a little bit for cigs and beer.