Expat Community > Philippines

oild1gger2
Joined 2012
Posts: 23

be careful when living in the Philippines

12 years ago

I have lived in the Philippines for about 16 months now and I would like to caution anyone planning to move to or visit the Philippines . I live with my Filipino fiance and we have discovered very careful here as they will cheat you at every opportunity. The taxi driver,s will overcharge you if you are a foreigner . they see dollar signs, even if you are with a Filipino. the tricycle drivers are the same , BE CAREFUL AND ASK FIRST and make sure they use the meter and not a flat rate. The buses and jeeps are honest for most part. the FX,,s will try to cheat you , if you are a foreigner. And when you buy in a market place , if they see you are a foreigner, they will almost always jackup the price.
Another thing , dealing with Immigration is a nightmare. they are not well informed and will not pass on their policies, they expect you to know them on your own. And you can ask one Agent a question and he will answer and ask another the same question and you will get another answer. you are allowed to extend a tourist Visa , up to 16 months , and then you must leave the country and re-enter and start over again. you will pay about 3500 pesos to extent your tourist visa while in the country,. After I paid my last extension I was preparing to depart and I ask the agent at Manila Immigration office if I needed any kind of letter to go out of the country and they assured me I was good to go. I bought a ticket to Houngkong , , economy , just to leave and sit in the airport and read a book and come right back. when I got to Clark airport and payed my 450 terminal fess , they directed me to immigration , they asked me for my exit pass, I asked what that was , it is a clearance tomake sure you have not committed a crime and are trying to leave. I said nobody informed me . they said the main Immigration should have told you and then you apply for one . Long story , short , I could not leave the country and lost the price of my ticker. I went the next day and fought with immigration and I talked to about ten people and all I got was I should have known this , Their attorney told me to go apply for an extention, by filling out a letter and the Commissioner will decide if you have a valid reason , I asked , when do I pay for the extension and she said after the rule on it , I went down stairs to the agents and they all said different things on how to apply for the letter of extension and that I had to pay now. I said what if they turn me down, they said you lose your money, I had been there five hours and really resolved nothing as they , were not aware of their own policies . the one agent I normally deal with is generally very rude and he said you should have known and he claims Immigration at Clark should have issued the clearance pass. Clark said they get this all the time from the main office. Immigration have been known to put on charges and cheat people , But the President is trying to crack down on them . So I am giving anyone planning to visit the Philippines , be careful as they see all foreigners as rich people and a lot will try to take advantage of you. And if you retire here just get prepared to deal with some uninformed Immigration people and it can get frustrating.

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