D&D&Dk1

5 hours ago, top_secret said:

Yea,  don't try Mexico.  That was a big mistake.  Most Filipinas couldn't even get a visa.  But my wife did have a valid visa for Mexico, we attempted a couple of weeks vacation in Cancun, she got deported on arrival without being given a reason and a shocking level of hostility from Mexican Immigration, threatened and pressured into signing some Spanish language deportation order she couldn't even read, left me standing there waiting for her without any news where she disappeared, so we regrouped, went to Brazil which was very friendly to Filipino passports and had an awesome vacation in Rio De Janeiro instead of Cancun.  Wont be trying Mexico again. 

That's absolutely atrocious. Have you considered filing a complaint with the Mexican consulate. I mean it probably won't do jack because it's Mexico but that is some over the top reprehensible behavior coming from immigration officials.

We were seriously considering traveling to Mexico as a family several months ago but nixed that idea after I sent an e-mail to the consulate here in Manila asking if it would be easier for her to obtain a visa if she was traveling with 2 U.S. citizens...one being her child. The Mexican consulate's response was more or less that it didn't matter.

However Mexico seems to have no problem being a happy waystation for every other illegal central and south American, caribbean, middle eastern, cartel mule, etc.. passing through Mexico to stroll across the U.S. border. Go figure.

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

 

Filipinas are rather routinely prevented from leaving by Philippine Immigration for a very large and murky list of arbitrary reasons such as previous travel history or lack thereof, financial, social and educational standing, general demeanor,  luck with what Immigration Officer they got that day, etc.  It's hardly a sure thing at all for a Filipina going to the airport and getting on a plane as a tourist.  Philippine Exit Immigration can be quite challenging.

Prior to broad based Philippines government covid restrictions it was fairly easy for a filipina to travel abroad. CFO wasn't required most of the time. I traveled with my fiancee and our child abroad quite a few times. These days they are making it much harder to leave as well as travel to the Philippines. 

The whole CFO thing was meant to cut down on human trafficking but the reality is if you look at the statistics most human trafficking in the Philippines is done through the multitude of shady placement agencies run behind the scenes by powerful people.

17 minutes ago, John & Rose said:

Kind of like coming here. I didn’t realize they needed all that. When they first started asking for them I had a couple friends who got them in just a couple days. It may have been sandier then. 

If they keep the current 9a requirements as permanent for all tourist applications then R.I.P. Philippines tourism.

There is literally no reason to ever come here for tourism when you have mostly visa exempt countries throughout southeast asia. It makes no sense. 

10 hours ago, John & Rose said:

I wouldn't bet on that.  Everything I hear from the consulate and from the Philippines indicate the 9a for tourists is here to stay.  I hope you are right though.

If the Philippines keeps the 9a visa as a mandatory requirement for all tourists then it will be one of the strictest tourist visa applications in southeast asia. Right now the requirements are 5 copies of your financial documents, roundtrip tickets, as well as prebooked accommodation. The application time is 2+ weeks in some consulates.

Imagine being a casual tourist who just wants to go to the Philippines like before..you pretty much can't without a very specific prebooked schedule.

Also, allowing some shady Philippines official collect data on your financial records and accounts is also pretty alarming.

Before you get too excited these are the countries deemed worthy of being on the "green list" by the IATF.

Quote

Countries on the green list are the following: American Samoa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chad, China (mainland), Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Hungary, Madagascar, Mali, Federated States of Micronesia, Montserrat, New Zealand, Niger, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Poland, Saba (Special Municipality of the Kingdom of Netherlands), Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Sint Eustatius, Taiwan, Algeria, Bhutan, Cook Islands, Eritrea, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Niue, North Korea, Saint Helena, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Yemen.

Yeah you read that right...places like Congo, Sierra Leone, and Chad are on the green list but most of the EU and North America isn't. Somehow I doubt that the poorest parts of Africa are more well vaxed than developed nations.

9 hours ago, VanHalen said:

Very corrupt 3rd World country.  You notice once people come to the USA they never go back home and live in the Philippines.  Look at all the nurses came to work in the USA the last 30 years, I would say 90% never returned home, they made permanent life outside of the Philippines. 

7 hours ago, flicks1998 said:

I think the destination country doesnt matter so much as they just want to get out of the country.  I had an employee who went AWOL from her job when I worked in Makati and a week later she was posting photos of herself throwing snowballs in Moscow.  I would say 90%+ of the employees we hired had aspirations to get out.  The only ones willing to stay were people that had to be physically present to take care of their families or others who did not want to be separated from their children.

True on all points. If you look at H2a/b statistics Filipinos have a very high overstay rate in the U.S. This is what led the Trump led Homeland security to restrict that visa class coming from the Philippines. The sad fact is that if you have any kind of ability, intelligence, or ambition it is wasted in the Philippines. I can fully understand why so many would rather be an illegal immigrant in the U.S. than grind out a living in the Philippines. The elite class in the Philippines which includes the generational wealthy families behave in a capricious and malicious way towards their fellow countrymen.

22 minutes ago, Karu4u said:

That's terrible. They are terrorists.... just harassing people for fun and entertainment.  Human rights doesn't exist in Philippines....

I'm amazed that people are surprised about how the Philippines really is. This is how it's always been. At the end of the day it's a very corrupt third world country.

Just ask some OFWs or filipinos who have left the Philippines and aren't in denial about it.

I could go on at length about all the issues that exist in this country but it's the sort of thing I tend to keep quiet about online because I am living here for now and in the long run it's not my problem. 

Let's just put it this way...you need to be real careful with how you interact with the government in the Philippines. They can do all sorts of outrageous stuff like throw you in jail for nonsense reasons or even outright kill you.

52 minutes ago, RO_AH said:

 Just remember the culture here in the Philippines. The CFO has ALL of the power and they expect to be treated that way and you must kiss up all the way. It does not matter if you were being  "arrogant" and "inpatient" or not. They felt that you were and that is all that matters. Don't let them feel that again.

This is true of pretty much any government official anywhere in the world when you are trying to get something done in a bureaucracy. If you smart off with U.S. government people they can make your life a living hell too. 

On 10/9/2021 at 8:29 AM, Puppythecat said:

My girlfriend is actually traveling from Manila to Boracay this weekend with some friends.  When I talked to her last night they all still had their fingers crossed hoping that all of their PCR tests come back negative.  Shame I'm stuck over here, the deals on resorts there right now are incredible.

The requirements for travel between provinces is actually more extensive than just getting a covid test. You need to fill out a couple government forms online which includes an ID with your permanent location on the Philippines. If you are a foreigner this means it could be very hard to travel outside the province you are in without proving long stay visa or permanent residence. 

This along with all your LGU approved travel location along with booked airline tickets. 

Then some petty official at whatever LGU you will be sending it to has to approve it all.  All this before you even show up at the airport and get scanned a million more times. 

Then when you arrive at destination sometimes they ask for another covid test if you stay longer than 5 days. (not kidding)

I currently live in the Philippines with my Fiancee. I was lucky enough to be in the country after March 2020 so was able to stay with her this entire time. Let me just give you guys a heads up about the political situation in the Philippines..there is a better than average chance that the Marcos family will be back in power next year. 

If that wasn't a grim enough future prognostication of the Philippines let me tell you the economy is in total shambles. I live near a fairly large commercial center and i've seen half the businesses close. The actual legit economics experts are warning of 20+ years for the Philippines to recover from covid because the damage to all sectors of the economy has been so dire. You can see this reflected in the country's stock index even. The government has grossly mismanaged not just the covid situation but the economy here as well.

There is also NO sign that tourism will open up in any sensible way anytime soon. You need an insane level of requirements just to travel from metro manila to Boracay. Things are not looking good here and in my opinion will only get worse.

I am talking about new 129f petitions filed post March 2020 that worked there way through the system in 2020 and 2021. Not people who were at NOA2 already in 2020 who filed in 2019.

I am just considering the options if our k-1 petition gets stuck at NVC. 

Hello all, we are just starting the process and USCIS recently sent us NOA1. I am looking at the requirements ahead of the process and was wondering if it will be an issue if I use assets instead of wages. 

I am currently living with my fiancee in the Philippines and I am a stock trader. I make money through capital gains and buying and selling of equities. I don't live off of dividends or interest so it wouldn't count as income. 

 On paper I do not make a traditional "income" per se nor am I employed in the traditional sense. I have a brokerage account with over $300,000+ in stocks and futures that I can easily provide a full year of monthly statements as well as mutual fund accounts which from what I read is well above the required benchmark of support. I also have a stellar FICO score that I can print out and show to the consular officer if that matters. 

Thank you all for any input.