# Benefits of 13a visa



## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

What are the benefits of a 13a visa? I do know when entering the Philippines one does not have to show/ or have an exit ticket. If in the Philippines more than 6 months is a NBI clearance required when leaving Phil? What other benefits are there?


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Once you receive the card you check in between Jan - Feb to a satellite office it takes less then 10 minutes and you pay 310 pesos, there are satellite office through out the Philippines. Every 5 years you will be required to renew the card in Manila (not such a benefit but needed) cost I've heard is from 3,000 pesos and you'll more then likely have to return for the card from two weeks to two months but beats flying out of the Philippines.

-Open a Philippine bank account, cable and internet service in your name.

-It's a privileged to get the one year Balikyan stamp but this is mainly to make your life easier and give you time to get your Non-quota 13a Visa by marriage completion or for temporary stays but for long term it's best to get the Immigration out of the way. I'm not sure how long that this service "Balikyban Stamp" will last but if its ends life can get complicated especially if you don't live near Manila.

If you leave the Philippines and don't do the annual check-in (update July 2022) you'll be paying something like 5000 pesos per year that you missed.


----------



## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

M.C.A. said:


> ...-Open a Philippine bank account, cable and internet service in your name...


I did all of that on a tourist stamp. 

I tracked my tourist visa waiver extensions for 1 year and it totaled p26,000. Leaving for a balikbayan stamp can cost that much to get you and your wife out of the country and back. The 13a is cheap and sounds relatively painless.

On a balikbayan stamp right now. I need to get busy and get my 13a. The once a year travel for a BB stamp gets expensive.


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

*Immigrant Visa Through Marriage*



Tukaram said:


> I did all of that on a tourist stamp.
> 
> I tracked my tourist visa waiver extensions for 1 year and it totaled p26,000. Leaving for a balikbayan stamp can cost that much to get you and your wife out of the country and back. The 13a is cheap and sounds relatively painless.
> 
> On a balikbayan stamp right now. I need to get busy and get my 13a. The once a year travel for a BB stamp gets expensive.


Here's the current link with all the information you'll need, sometimes they don't print everything though but the PBI website has improved over the years, it's come a very long way and so has the staff, everything can and should be accomplished by you, if you decide to use fixers, lawyers is like banging your head on the wall and then having to bang your head on the other wall before you can get all your requirements accomplished all they do is slow you up and drain your wallet.

Conversion to Non-Quota Immigrant Visa by Marriage


----------



## Cebu Citizen (Dec 13, 2013)

I have just recently submitted all my documents for the conversion to a 13a Visa but I heard about a downside to this conversion. It is my understanding that after I receive the 13a Visa, I must now get a travel clearance "EVERY TIME" I decide to leave the Philippines!

Is this true? And if so, can anyone shed some light on how difficult this task is to accomplish. In my retirement years, I like to take little short trips to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta, Singapore, etc. and I am hoping this does NOT become a great big hassle when I take my next trip.

My 13a has been a nightmare for the past nine months because every time I get my application packet completed, the BI changes their commissioner and that means changing the forms and document requirements necessary in completing this Visa conversion process. Now with 2016 here, they did another commissioner change and after submitting my packet four times in the past nine months, I FINALLY have my interview next week...that is "if" they do not make another change before I get there! At one point my NBI clearance expired and I had to start all over again...

I am hoping I will NOT expect the same types of delays when I want to take a trip outside the Philippines if I need some sort of travel clearance before I can depart. Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks...


----------



## Cebu Citizen (Dec 13, 2013)

Tukaram said:


> *I did all of that on a tourist stamp.*
> 
> I tracked my tourist visa waiver extensions for 1 year and it totaled p26,000. Leaving for a balikbayan stamp can cost that much to get you and your wife out of the country and back. The 13a is cheap and sounds relatively painless.
> 
> On a balikbayan stamp right now. I need to get busy and get my 13a. The once a year travel for a BB stamp gets expensive.




I did this as well. I have been living in the Philippines for nearly 2 years now and I have opened both a Peso account and a US Dollar account at Philippine banks, plus most recently a checking account, purchased a condo, two vehicles, cable TV, internet and Meralco Electric service all in my personal name, (not my wife's)...all on my old Tourist Visa. The Tourist Visa and my US Passport were the only two forms of ID I had when opening all of these accounts. Hopefully by mid March I will finally have my 13a but I am not sure what the benefits will be except not having to renew every six months...


----------



## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Watching this thread with interest. Lately I have started thinking if there may be an advantage financially or otherwise to go the 13a route rather than the Balikbayan route I am now following. It does cost quite a bit to depart & return each year with all the incidental costs involved and the hassle & fees at each airport in different countries and such. Balancing this cost and hassle against what the 13a involves is kind of hard to do as there is the initial cost plus having to do some of it in Manila(hassle as far as I am concerned) and now if one has to obtain a clearance to leave is just another thing against going that way. There doesn't seem to be that much info on the BI website about all the requirements to comply with unless I just haven't searched deep enough. Maybe someone can steer me in the direction to find out all the costs and requirements. As I have mentioned before the very best part of doing what I do is that you do not have to deal with BI at all and to me that is worth a lot. 

Fred


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

*Exit clearance required after 6 months*



Cebu Citizen said:


> I have just recently submitted all my documents for the conversion to a 13a Visa but I heard about a downside to this conversion. It is my understanding that after I receive the 13a Visa, I must now get a travel clearance "EVERY TIME" I decide to leave the Philippines!
> 
> Is this true? And if so, can anyone shed some light on how difficult this task is to accomplish. In my retirement years, I like to take little short trips to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta, Singapore, etc. and I am hoping this does NOT become a great big hassle when I take my next trip.
> 
> ...


Exit clearance required no matter what for anyone that is an expat and has been in the Philippines for more than 6 months. Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC)


----------



## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

M.C.A. said:


> Exit clearance required no matter what for anyone that is an expat and has been in the Philippines for more than 6 months. Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC)


I did not realise that this was the case. It will be a real PITA especially if having to leave unexpectedly or because of an emergency.


----------



## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

M.C.A. said:


> Exit clearance required no matter what for anyone that is an expat and has been in the Philippines for more than 6 months. Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC)


Not a requirement of a BB or I believe SRRV. If you intend to make regular trips out stay with the BB.


----------



## pakawala (Sep 10, 2014)

Phil_expat said:


> What are the benefits of a 13a visa?


1. You can sue, file a case and utilize the Philippine legal system. An example is you are in a bar and another expat defames or slanders you, as a 13a holder you can sue for defamation. Another example is if someone slanders you on a site like Facebook. You can sue. There are too many other examples. 

2. Following legal requirements, you can work, partially own a business, etc.

3. There are times when folks return to the states without a return ticket because they don't know when they will return. One can purchase a one way ticket back to the Philippines by showing the US airline the 13a ACR "permanent resident". They do ask for it as it's happened to me on a few of my last trips from the US. No 13a permanent ACR card, no one way ticket to the PI.

4. Tourists are not allowed to hold any positions of power in the Philippines. As a 13a holder, you can be the honcho of a Mason Lodge, etc. etc.

These are just a few examples that I can think of that were not previously mentioned.


----------



## pakawala (Sep 10, 2014)

Cebu Citizen said:


> I have just recently submitted all my documents for the conversion to a 13a Visa but I heard about a downside to this conversion. It is my understanding that after I receive the 13a Visa, I must now get a travel clearance "EVERY TIME" I decide to leave the Philippines!


The travel clearance for 13a holders is no big deal at all. Prior to the final immigrant check before going to the gate where they departure stamp your passport, you go to the window, hand your boarding pass, passport and 13a ACR Card, pay a small fee and they print out your clearance to show to the departure stamp folks. It's open 24/7 and is no big deal at all.


----------



## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

pakawala said:


> The travel clearance for 13a holders is no big deal at all. Prior to the final immigrant check before going to the gate where they departure stamp your passport, you go to the window, hand your boarding pass, passport and 13a ACR Card, pay a small fee and they print out your clearance to show to the departure stamp folks. It's open 24/7 and is no big deal at all.


I guess you then go to another window and pay the 1600 ish pesos travel tax.


----------



## pakawala (Sep 10, 2014)

Gary D said:


> I guess you then go to another window and pay the 1600 ish pesos travel tax.


At NAIA, You first show the guard your ticket. Then place your bags in the x-ray machine where bullets were allegedly being planted. The travel tax booth is located in that area. I always make that my first stop before getting in line to receive my boarding pass. Then proceed to check in your luggage and get the boarding pass. Then on your way to departure pay at the Airport tax window, then 13a Clearance window, then departure stamp then gate.


----------



## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

Thanks for all the replies to my post. There seem to be some confusion if a NBI exit clearance is required if in the Philippines 6 months or more on a BB, SRRV or 13a. has anyone on one of these left the country after 6 months? If yes, did you need the clearance?


----------



## esv1226 (Mar 13, 2014)

On a BB, no exit clearance required. No travel tax either provided BB stamp is not expired.


----------



## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

I have the Balikbayan 1 year stamp in my passport twice. We moved here in 2014 and they stamped the "Balikbayan" status as we came together and presented our Marriage Cert. Last August we went to Hong Kong for a few days. Had to pay the tax for her as she is a Philippine Citizen but not for me. When we returned, they just stamped another year in my passport. No hassle at all and did not have to buy an ongoing ticket although they did question and I showed them the prior 1 year stamp. As I remember from some prior thread ESV mentioned that her Husband has 2 or 3 one year stamps in his passport so they have done it also.

Fred


----------



## magsasaja (Jan 31, 2014)

Phil_expat said:


> Thanks for all the replies to my post. There seem to be some confusion if a NBI exit clearance is required if in the Philippines 6 months or more on a BB, SRRV or 13a. has anyone on one of these left the country after 6 months? If yes, did you need the clearance?


You do not need exit clearance if you are on any of the above visas.


----------



## art1946 (Nov 30, 2017)

cebu citizen

I did the same thing you did when I lived there. I had a peso and dollars counts at BDO bank in my name and I only had a tourist visa. the only thing i had to do was extend my visa every 6 months at that time. I don't know how long a person can stay in the Philippines on a tourist via now. Use to be 3 years and a person had to leave and come back and start over again.

art


----------

