Information For Wannabe's (Arthur)
Hi Arthur, and thanks for visiting ETP. I'm always pleased to hear from anyone who visits. I could use feedback, what people like, and also what they would like to see, read or learn about living in the Philippines.
Arthur said...
"Hey Rik, it sounds great out there, just wondering how easy is it to obtain visas to live in the country, and could you explain how easily you were able to obtain one. Furthermore, are they're expatriate protestst churches in the country? I know you mentioned that the catholics dominate the country, just wondering if protestst churchs with expatriates exist out there."
Arthur, the first thing I want to say is that you - and everyone else - should give me your email address(es) if you want personalized information. ETP isn't the place for that. I'm only too happy to help you and others but, please, add your email address(es) when you need specific information. And while I'm thinking of it, please tell and direct others who're interested in learning about the Philippines and, perhaps more importantly, Filipina's, about ETP. In the long run, I'm hoping other Expatriates will discover this site and share experiences, advice, and so forth.
Since I'm here, however... Yes, the Philippines is a great place to live, if you accept what I've written previously about how the Philippines is not America or Europe and understand that you won't be living the way you are used to. But then, you may find things much better! As far as Filipina's go, once you find the right Honey Ko, you'll discover a kind of love and relationship you only dreamed about in your home (Western) country.
Visa's: You can can enter the country and stay for 29-days without a visa (you'll need a passport, however). You can get an extended visa good for 59-days from your local Philippine Embassy if you want to stay a little longer. On the west coast the Embassy is in San Francisco. The best way to locate Embassy addresses, phone numbers, etc., is - golly! - by using an Internet search engine (search: Philippine Embassies in the U.S.) and request a 59-day visa.
If you have the time and money, I recommend coming on an 59-day visa so you have plenty of time to move around the country (7800+ islands!). You can always return home early, but you can't stay longer without going through a lot of hassle - and get an extended visa in Manila only.
There are plenty of foreigners who live in places like Angeles City who have been living here for years on a 59-day visa. But they have to either go themselves or send a surrogate Filipino - easily done - to Manila every two months to get a renewal.
Or you can marry a Filipina and get a Permanent Residence Visa(13A) and live here for the rest of your life and only have to go to the local immigration office every January, check-in and pay a 400 peso (about $3.85) processing fee. If you want to get a (13A) visa, I recommend getting it before you make your permanent move to the Philippines. You can get it quickly - probably within 30-days - and hundreds of dollars cheaper in the States.
I got mine in San Francisco. You'll have to make an appearance at the Embassy in person. It took two weeks and only cost me about $60. If you try to get it once you're here it could take 1-2 years and cost many hundreds of dollars. It's your choice which way to go. For me, the hassle of driving 120 miles one way (times two trips) to S.F. was a cake-walk compared to trying to get anything at all done here where it can take up to 3-years just to get a property title.
Churches: Just as in the southern U.S. one can't walk ten feet in any direction, it seems, without bumping into a church. The country's teeming with them, in all denominations - Protestant, 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Baptist this, Baptist that, ad infinitum. Most are run by Foreigners competing to convert the 'natives.' There's plenty of visiting foreigners who travel and evangalize. I can't say that there's a church just for Expatriates; I doubt it. Oddly, the Philippines is mostly filled with Filipino's (humor). Seriously, you can have your choice of churches to go to until you find the one you're comfortable with.
That's the best information I can offer on Christian churches, as I'm a Buddhist. I've been to a few Christian churches with girlfriend's early on. At every visit there were foreigners in the audience and on the stage as traveling preachers.
I guess I should add, since I mentioned girlfriends, that although I did marry a Filipina then moved over here, it didn't work out since she was only interested in moving to America and living the high-life, whereas I had no intention of returning to the States. She left hastily when she realized she wasn't going to get to live in a big American house and walk on the streets of gold. Live and learn. That's all too common here, You need to be very careful about who you marry. Most Filipina's see we foreigners as walking banks. And I can't say enough about not believing even 10% of what you read on the Internet love personals. You should ONLY marry someone you've spent time with. My personal advice is to come here and live on multiple 59-day visa's until you are absolutely sure about your Honey Ko. It may cost extra, but it won't cost as much as years of court sessions and support.
Remember, also, that there's no divorce in the Philippines - only Anullment. My anullment case has been on-going for almost 3 1/2 years. Who knows when it will be over? The only good part is that attorney's are dirt cheap here - as opposed to expensive dirt in the States. A court appearance costs only 500-800 pesos ($10-15).
After being here for two years, and after going through a number of gold-diggers, I was fortunate to meet Celine - in the picture below. Celine is every man's dream; she doesn't care about money or jewelry or big houses or big cars. She does care about me, and she takes care of me in every way. We've been together for two years now and we have yet to have even a minor disagreement. She's always happy and giving and we spend most of our time laughing and playing together. She's not a westernized girl, which is becoming more and more common; she comes from the forest and lives in the old traditions. She believes the man is the master and decision-maker and it's her place to follow. And although she's only had a 3rd-grade formal education, she's more wise and smarter - in the School of Life - than any woman I ever met in America. Does she make me happy? You bet, like I've never been happy before. I wouldn't trade Celine for any woman in the entire United States.
Lastly, Arthur, if you come to the Philippines to look for a place to live I highly recommend you to come to Palawan and have a look around. If you're rich you might be interested in one of the westernized security protected planned-housing-golf-course kinds of places on other islands. There's nothing like that here, but it's probably the safest island - check the maps - because it sits alone, divided from the rest of the country. You can have a huge house built for around $25,000. And there's lots of American and other foreigner's if you are the type that wants to talk about and keep a taste of home.
Puerto Princesa is rapidly growing - we have a Dunkin Donuts store, now, and an American just opened a place called Lil' Jacks Texas Barbecue. The food's delicious.
I have to go be with Celine, now - my favorite thing.
Good fortune to you, Arthur. If you need more info, write again to ETP with your questions. But, give me your email address next time so I can give you more direct and longer answers if need be.
Arthur said...
"Hey Rik, it sounds great out there, just wondering how easy is it to obtain visas to live in the country, and could you explain how easily you were able to obtain one. Furthermore, are they're expatriate protestst churches in the country? I know you mentioned that the catholics dominate the country, just wondering if protestst churchs with expatriates exist out there."
...Rik...
Arthur, the first thing I want to say is that you - and everyone else - should give me your email address(es) if you want personalized information. ETP isn't the place for that. I'm only too happy to help you and others but, please, add your email address(es) when you need specific information. And while I'm thinking of it, please tell and direct others who're interested in learning about the Philippines and, perhaps more importantly, Filipina's, about ETP. In the long run, I'm hoping other Expatriates will discover this site and share experiences, advice, and so forth.
Since I'm here, however... Yes, the Philippines is a great place to live, if you accept what I've written previously about how the Philippines is not America or Europe and understand that you won't be living the way you are used to. But then, you may find things much better! As far as Filipina's go, once you find the right Honey Ko, you'll discover a kind of love and relationship you only dreamed about in your home (Western) country.
Visa's: You can can enter the country and stay for 29-days without a visa (you'll need a passport, however). You can get an extended visa good for 59-days from your local Philippine Embassy if you want to stay a little longer. On the west coast the Embassy is in San Francisco. The best way to locate Embassy addresses, phone numbers, etc., is - golly! - by using an Internet search engine (search: Philippine Embassies in the U.S.) and request a 59-day visa.
If you have the time and money, I recommend coming on an 59-day visa so you have plenty of time to move around the country (7800+ islands!). You can always return home early, but you can't stay longer without going through a lot of hassle - and get an extended visa in Manila only.
There are plenty of foreigners who live in places like Angeles City who have been living here for years on a 59-day visa. But they have to either go themselves or send a surrogate Filipino - easily done - to Manila every two months to get a renewal.
Or you can marry a Filipina and get a Permanent Residence Visa(13A) and live here for the rest of your life and only have to go to the local immigration office every January, check-in and pay a 400 peso (about $3.85) processing fee. If you want to get a (13A) visa, I recommend getting it before you make your permanent move to the Philippines. You can get it quickly - probably within 30-days - and hundreds of dollars cheaper in the States.
I got mine in San Francisco. You'll have to make an appearance at the Embassy in person. It took two weeks and only cost me about $60. If you try to get it once you're here it could take 1-2 years and cost many hundreds of dollars. It's your choice which way to go. For me, the hassle of driving 120 miles one way (times two trips) to S.F. was a cake-walk compared to trying to get anything at all done here where it can take up to 3-years just to get a property title.
Churches: Just as in the southern U.S. one can't walk ten feet in any direction, it seems, without bumping into a church. The country's teeming with them, in all denominations - Protestant, 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Baptist this, Baptist that, ad infinitum. Most are run by Foreigners competing to convert the 'natives.' There's plenty of visiting foreigners who travel and evangalize. I can't say that there's a church just for Expatriates; I doubt it. Oddly, the Philippines is mostly filled with Filipino's (humor). Seriously, you can have your choice of churches to go to until you find the one you're comfortable with.
That's the best information I can offer on Christian churches, as I'm a Buddhist. I've been to a few Christian churches with girlfriend's early on. At every visit there were foreigners in the audience and on the stage as traveling preachers.
I guess I should add, since I mentioned girlfriends, that although I did marry a Filipina then moved over here, it didn't work out since she was only interested in moving to America and living the high-life, whereas I had no intention of returning to the States. She left hastily when she realized she wasn't going to get to live in a big American house and walk on the streets of gold. Live and learn. That's all too common here, You need to be very careful about who you marry. Most Filipina's see we foreigners as walking banks. And I can't say enough about not believing even 10% of what you read on the Internet love personals. You should ONLY marry someone you've spent time with. My personal advice is to come here and live on multiple 59-day visa's until you are absolutely sure about your Honey Ko. It may cost extra, but it won't cost as much as years of court sessions and support.
Remember, also, that there's no divorce in the Philippines - only Anullment. My anullment case has been on-going for almost 3 1/2 years. Who knows when it will be over? The only good part is that attorney's are dirt cheap here - as opposed to expensive dirt in the States. A court appearance costs only 500-800 pesos ($10-15).
After being here for two years, and after going through a number of gold-diggers, I was fortunate to meet Celine - in the picture below. Celine is every man's dream; she doesn't care about money or jewelry or big houses or big cars. She does care about me, and she takes care of me in every way. We've been together for two years now and we have yet to have even a minor disagreement. She's always happy and giving and we spend most of our time laughing and playing together. She's not a westernized girl, which is becoming more and more common; she comes from the forest and lives in the old traditions. She believes the man is the master and decision-maker and it's her place to follow. And although she's only had a 3rd-grade formal education, she's more wise and smarter - in the School of Life - than any woman I ever met in America. Does she make me happy? You bet, like I've never been happy before. I wouldn't trade Celine for any woman in the entire United States.
Lastly, Arthur, if you come to the Philippines to look for a place to live I highly recommend you to come to Palawan and have a look around. If you're rich you might be interested in one of the westernized security protected planned-housing-golf-course kinds of places on other islands. There's nothing like that here, but it's probably the safest island - check the maps - because it sits alone, divided from the rest of the country. You can have a huge house built for around $25,000. And there's lots of American and other foreigner's if you are the type that wants to talk about and keep a taste of home.
Puerto Princesa is rapidly growing - we have a Dunkin Donuts store, now, and an American just opened a place called Lil' Jacks Texas Barbecue. The food's delicious.
I have to go be with Celine, now - my favorite thing.
Good fortune to you, Arthur. If you need more info, write again to ETP with your questions. But, give me your email address next time so I can give you more direct and longer answers if need be.
Rik
posted by Rik | 4/14/2005 06:31:00 PM
1 Comments:
Wow Rik, many thanks for the speedy reply, it was very informative. Your stories are great and that you tell it as you see it without trying to "sell the phillipenes" is great. Incidently, updating the readers on things you have previosuly mentioned would be great, have you been able to play Guitar since the motorbike accident? You had mentioned that was your one main concern. How is your annulment been going? From you have already described this is one case in which an annulment should have been granted immediatly, too bad that hasn't been the case. The stories that your true wife Celine (incidently I'm glad providence kept her safe when the pirates raided down in queson) tells you are really intersing and continued posting would be great. A couple more follow up questions, Do you find the need to own a gun for protection, with the pirates and abu sayif around it seems as though a detterent is neccesary you mentioned the permeant residency visa, is the only way you can obtain one by marriage? Also Can foriegeners own land or bussiness within the phillipenes you have mentioned yourself as renting and some big mansion houses that other foriegners rent is this because rent is the only option?, are expats allowed to own and hold land or bussiness?
Your stories and pictures are great, a real escape from life here, keep posting there are a lot of readers out there
Arthur
arthur_berr@yahoo.com
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