# Trying to Move to Philippines from Canada



## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and am looking to relocate to the Philippines to help my extended family as my Filipina wife recently passed away. We are repatriating her body to Lemery, Batangas in a couple weeks (around July 20 depending on paperwork).

This will be the first time I am making the trip there and am really green, but I have family (in-laws) and have inherited her land as well.

My questions are; What paperwork can I accomplish from the Philippines and what MUST I do from Canada in order to stay as long as I like? Is it possible to get things expedited? Will I need to come back to Canada at some point anyway?

Thanks in advance guys...


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

At this point in time you have two options, the first being on the never ending tourist visa merry-go-round. You can stay in the Philippines for up to 36 months renewing every 2 months. The second option is a SRRV which is you wish to remain in the Philippines is probably your best option. Regarding your land it will be interesting to see how you get on as inhertance is the only way a foriegner can own land in the Philippines. The water is very muddy over this one.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

I really understand the muddy waters, but it is an inheritance as I am next of kin and executor and spouse. I believe that is the only way to acquire land there as an expat.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

At one time there was an entry on a thread that listed inheritors. You would be #5 on the list, If, however, you have children by your Filipina spouse, they would fall first in line. Even if you are listed on the land deed. Actually, you canlt own the land itself but you can own any house on it.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Gary D said:


> At this point in time you have two options, the first being on the never ending tourist visa merry-go-round. You can stay in the Philippines for up to 36 months renewing every 2 months. The second option is a SRRV which is you wish to remain in the Philippines is probably your best option. Regarding your land it will be interesting to see how you get on as inhertance is the only way a foriegner can own land in the Philippines. The water is very muddy over this one.


I am really not sure what the SRRV is...
With a tourist visa, do I need a return or forwarding ticket?


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Bbqbob said:


> I am really not sure what the SRRV is...
> With a tourist visa, do I need a return or forwarding ticket?


Yes you do require a onward/return ticket whenever you enter on a tourist visa.
SRRV is a Special Resident Retirement Visa.

Re the land inheritance, your deceased wife' parents, siblings or any children of hers related or not to you will inherit before you. I think you would be ok if you are left the land in her will. Not sure if co-inheritors challanged it what would happen. Another point is that it has been side that you can only inherit for the time it takes you to sell the land to a filipino citizen. i don't know how true this is.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Bbqbob said:


> I am looking to relocate to the Philippines to help my extended family as my Filipina wife recently passed away. This will be the first time I am making the trip there and am really green, but I have family (in-laws) and have inherited her land as well..... I am really not sure what the SRRV is........ With a tourist visa, do I need a return or forwarding ticket? .


Bbqbob, firstly, condolences on the recent loss of your wife. Picking up on your comment that this will be the first time you are making the trip to the Philippines, in my humble opinion, I don’t think you should be considering an SRRV at this stage of the game. The cost is in excess of US$20,000. Much better to arrive here on a tourist visa (having already obtained the first extension in Canada from the Philippine Embassy) giving you 59 days to start with. As mentioned by GaryD in his post, you can then keep extending that visa up to 36 months at which stage you commence the process all over again. I have read somewhere on this forum that it is possible to extend the visa every 6-months as opposed to every 2; depends on where you are apparently. I'm sure other members will comment on that. With this option, you could take as long as you like (without having forked out US$20K), to decide on whether or not relocating to the Philippines is right for you. If at any stage of the process you confirm that it is the right choice, that would be the time to consider applying for the SRRV. For the tourist visa option, it is easy enough to purchase an inexpensive onward ticket through one of the Philippine Airlines such as Cebu Pacific. Just keep an eye out for their regular promos.

On the matter of supporting your extended family, whilst it’s admirable that you are committed to doing so, it is also possible to support them without actually living here. I’m just a tad surprised that you seem to have decided to relocate here without having seen/ experienced the place yet. I imagine you are experiencing a lot of upheavals in your life at the moment, emotions being one of them; all the more reason to go for the long-stay tourist visa and keep your options open. Please remember that we have very little knowledge of your personal situation, whether there are children involved, whether or not relocating to the Philippines has always been a long term goal of yours etc., etc. Our advice is given with the best of intentions and if you do relocate here, I expect you'll find all the help you need on the forum. Good luck with whatever you decide and I hope it works out for you.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Mabrouk,

I expect I will be going the route of the revolving tourist visa at least until I learn the language and customs enough to enhance that permanency. We, (my wife and I), had planned to get my dual citizenship once she got hers next year and 50/50 the living between here and there. 

The reasons I want to be there are multiple and not just crazy emotional (sort of).
First - I promised my wife I'd love her all of my days... not hers.
Second - Her sister is giving up her chance at permanent resident, for now, in order to bring her home too.
Third - Several in the family are experienced wait/cooking staff and we had discussed opening/buying a restaurant/bar. This may qualify me to get a special business investor classification?...
Etc...

As for the onward ticket... do you need to keep purchasing them for near the end date of each extension? (essentially never using them and losing $150 or so)

I am just a bit overwhelmed at getting all this paperwork completed in the "hurry up and wait" mode.


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

*Papper work*



Bbqbob said:


> Mabrouk,
> 
> I expect I will be going the route of the revolving tourist visa at least until I learn the language and customs enough to enhance that permanency. We, (my wife and I), had planned to get my dual citizenship once she got hers next year and 50/50 the living between here and there.
> 
> ...


If your planning on staying it can be even more overwelming and burdensome, especially if you forget to bring certain documents such as a Police records check, original certified copies of anything your required to submit, warning the mail system isn't so hot either and traveling to and from Manila to get your stuff done isn't a cheap process either. 

Contact your Philippine Consulate in Canada. 

https://www.google.com.ph/maps/sear...+locations+in+canada/@56,-96,3z/data=!3m1!4b1

If your retired military or depending upon your age you can qualify for much less, so here's another short cut on SRRV.
PRA: Philippine Retirement Authority

If you have kids there to I'm pretty sure you can qualify for a Non-quota 13a Visa, this can be done in 2 months if you have all your documents, especially documents from your children, you can also do this here, it takes longer especially if you haven't clear all your documents with the Canadian Consulate in Canada before arrival, if you go that route, clear and obtain all documents through them before leaving Canada.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Thx guys for all the good info... time for some searching and processing...


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Bbqbob said:


> As for the onward ticket... do you need to keep purchasing them for near the end date of each extension? (essentially never using them and losing $150 or so)


Bbqbob, You should only have to purchase the onward ticket once on your initial entry because you are then going to keep getting the 2 or 6-month extensions after the initial 59-days. Remember, it's not just the Philippines immigration that may want to see your onward ticket. More importantly, staff at the check in desk of the airline you are flying with from Canada are responsible for checking your onward ticket; if they let you onboard without one, they can face charges from the country that you are flying to, in this case the Philippines. Some members here will tell you that they have never been asked for this onward ticket. My own experience is that my wife and I have always been asked for it. It's just not worth the risk trying to arrive here without it. There are quite a few posts on this subject on the forum. I submitted one previously myself; you can find it under, "UK - Long Term Tourist Visa - Before Getting to Philippines". 

Another consideration is the Police Certificate. As this is only valid for 6-months, you need to consider whether or not it's worthwhile getting it if you're going down the extended tourist visa route. You need it for the SRRV and some other types of visa. Perhaps other members can tell you whether or not you need it for the long-term visa route and at what stage. If you have lived in the Philippines for 6-months on an extended tourist visa, my understanding is that instead of a providing a Police Certificate from your home country, the only Police Clearance certificate you need is one from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in the Philippines, provided of course that you haven't left the Philippines during that 6-month period. From my own experience, getting the NBI certificate in the Philippines was less hassle than getting the certificate from my own country as it was also necessary to attain so many legalisation stamps from other authorites such as the foreign office and the Philippine Embassy.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

Another thing about owning a business here, Philippine law states that all businesses in the Philippines, even the small Mom and Pop businesses have to be 60% Filipino owned. You can only have MAXIMUM OF 40% interest in anything your wife's family wants to do and they are the bosses.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

JimnNila143 said:


> Another thing about owning a business here, Philippine law states that all businesses in the Philippines, even the small Mom and Pop businesses have to be 60% Filipino owned. You can only have MAXIMUM OF 40% interest in anything your wife's family wants to do and they are the bosses.


The Filipino partners by law are also require to raise 60% of the capital, like that's going to happen. Ask any filipino about starting a business and they will have a thousand ideas, usually involving copying the neighbours business. Have you ever wondered why there are so many sari sari stores next to each other or why there are rows of vulcanising businesses beside the road. When it comes to running a business it is sad to say that the average filipino doesn't have a clue. They will willingly spend your money having a go. There also seems to be a disconnect between setting up said business and actually working to keep it going as well.

From experience I would suggest any mention of running a business I would run a mile.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Jim and Gary,

I didn't know about the 60% thing, exactly. I did know that I needed a Filipino partner. That said, I have her sister and brother coming in as partners and her sister trusts my judgement based on her investments that have paid in my wife's and my small furniture store. The sister has lived abroad here in Canada as well so she is a bit more learned about how things run and how the village mentality doesn't work.

So in essence, I will have the equivalent of 66.7% when it comes to decision making... most of the time. One can hope.


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## Anxious_wife (Mar 11, 2013)

Bbqbob said:


> The reasons I want to be there are multiple and not just crazy emotional (sort of).
> *First - I promised my wife I'd love her all of my days... not hers.*
> Second - Her sister is giving up her chance at permanent resident, for now, in order to bring her home too.
> Third - Several in the family are experienced wait/cooking staff and we had discussed opening/buying a restaurant/bar. This may qualify me to get a special business investor classification?...
> Etc...


This is beautiful <3 I wish you the best of luck in the Phils and I am so sorry for your loss.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

When my wife and I moved to Luzon from Mindanao, she decided that she wanted a sari sari store, which I financed. It has done OK but still isn't a great money maker. She works as a Caregiver/C.N.A As I am now fully disabled [bad hip] I can't operate the store any longer, so we have a helper. We are OK but I want better security.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

The biggest killer of sari sari stores seems to be credits, but if you don't give credit no customers. The second is the family using it as their own personal larder. There's 10tins tins of that so 9 only makes a small difference.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

So in regards to the forward ticket, do I have top specify a date or can it be open ended?


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

*Sari-sari store is a bummer*



Gary D said:


> The biggest killer of sari sari stores seems to be credits, but if you don't give credit no customers. The second is the family using it as their own personal larder. There's 10tins tins of that so 9 only makes a small difference.


Same thing happens every time my wife decides to open up a Sari-sari store it's a real downer, don't forget the VAT charges at the grocery and transportation costs, its a real loser.

Only money maker in our municipality was the Billiard table, it's located next to the road and it could make over 300 pesos per day, all day long though and it's aggravating trying to get them to pay for their games and the destructive stick banking and fist pounding doesn't help either, on a positive note there's no food involved.

Our past rock bottom business ventures the in-laws would run them but the business would turn sour, due to theft and jealousy, I trust none of my in-laws and that goes for our neighbors also (they make a great team), many lessons learned the only way I can make money here is to do it myself, run the pool room or another money maker would be a Vulcanizing shop but if they see a Westerner they won't stop, they figure your gonna overcharge them for services, sort of like what they do to us, you'd be amazed at how cheap it is to service tires and repair inner tube's (15 pesos) Car-5 pesos per tire, trike 5 peso's all three, bike 1 peso per tire, I don't dare reveal how much I'd been paying before I opened my own spot and got the real prices.


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## JimnNila143 (Jul 23, 2013)

You just have to be very careful and trust nobody. Many will want credit and that can bite you in the booty. Never make loans because they always end up turning into a gift. In any business you have to make a profit in order to make a living.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

*Onward Ticket*



Bbqbob said:


> So in regards to the forward ticket, do I have top specify a date or can it be open ended?


Bbqbob, your onward ticket is purely to satisfy (a) the airline with which you are flying to the Philippines that you have an onward ticket and (b) to satisfy the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (if they should ever check) that you do not intend to stay here. The date of the onward ticket should therefore be relevant to your visa. In other words, if you come in on the 29 day visa, your onward ticket should reflect that you are leaving before the 29 days is up. The same if you get the 59 day visa, the onward flight must be within that time frame. Open ended usually refers to returns but as you don't intend to use the ticket, that is irrelevant in this case; you would only be buying a single. By the way, I've just checked Cebu Pacific online and their international promos include a flight to Hong Kong & Brunei etc., for P2,688 which at today's exchange rates works out at US$59. That's the sort of thing you should be looking for. The sale period is up to 12 July and the travel period is from 20 July to 31 October. As I mentioned earlier, in my experience, these promos seem to be very regular, so no need to panic re booking one.


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Thanks so much... this is VERY useful!!!


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## Bbqbob (Jul 9, 2015)

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the info. I already picked up an $85 total ticket to HK for about 28 days after arrival. I will be a couple hours south in Lemery Batangas until maybe renting something in Batangas city at some point.

I would like to get the info on the service you know, (I assume that is what was snipped). Maybe it can be sent to me in a private message?

Thanks again, and to all you guys on here...


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## Nickleback99 (Aug 6, 2011)

Bbqbob said:


> Hi Jeff,
> 
> Thanks for the info. I already picked up an $85 total ticket to HK for about 28 days after arrival. I will be a couple hours south in Lemery Batangas until maybe renting something in Batangas city at some point.
> 
> ...


You all correct me if wrong, but aren't you also able to as for the 29 day extension right there at the airport? I'm 99% certain that is the case


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