Do those of you living in Manila worry about your personal safety? As in getting mugged or kidnapped or killed etc?

How much is a 1 bedroom furnished apartment in a safe area, close to stuff to do etc?

Is there a standard area where all of the 2+2 people/expats live?

-When being a complete noob, I was a little worried on my first couple cabrides about something like that happening.
But no. Not at all. If you're gonna be paranoid about that stuff you might as well spend your life in parents basement at home in the countryside never going out. To me, Manila feels like one of the more safe cities I've been in ever. Results may vary though I'm sure.

-Mostly ranging from 25K-100K/month depending on the area and standard you want. You'll also find cheaper than this. It's about preference and priority.

-No. Expats live all over the city from Malate to Quezon. Most popular would be the nicer areas Makati in general.

Thanks.

I searched the thread and read a bunch but could not find an answer to:

What is the Visa situation for Americans? We can stay 6 months on entry, right? What if we want to stay longer?

21 days visa on arrival.. you can extend for another 30 days at random offices throughout the country for about 3000 peso.. you can do this 2 or 3 times, then they'll ask you to apply for an i-card (basically just pay more money) - costs about 4000 peso. Basically you just have to keep paying 3000 peso a month.

Thanks.

Is there a limit to how many times you can do this without leaving the country? Or so long as you can afford 3k a month you can stay forever?

I think there's no limit to the number of times you can do this.. but after you stay more than 3 months they tell you to get an I-Card.

when I arrive at the airport do I need to have return flight or can i just buy a one way?

Your supposed to have a return flight.. i've only been asked 1/10 times tho when arriving in Philippines. Normally you won't be allowed to board your flight from wherever you are coming from tho, i.e. from hongkong to manila.. at check-in at hongkong airport they will ask for proof of return flight. They are very strict on this.

Short Answer: Yes, you need return flight... or fake print-out that looks like a return flight.


ps. jetstar manila to singapore is cheapest, if you plan not to use the ticket.

Regarding taxi safety, I have never heard of any guy being mugged by a driver etc., but I have heard of issues women have, inxluding a maid being threatened, a near rape case (stopped by an onlooker) and a girl being mugged. In the first case it was possible the maid made it up but in the other two it isn't. So yeah in case it matters taxis and the city in general may not be as safe for women. However no guy i know has ever had a problem and i think pinoys mostly just bother women.

Regarding the return flight issue.

My return flight is 90 days after my arrival. Will I need a return flight within the 21 days or do you think they will be fine with it?

I'd lay 2:1 you'll be fine, but I run bad.

on another note, why are all you dumb asses staying in manila - possibly the worst city in the world.. cebu would be 20x better to live in, still has the city action + 30mins - 1 hour to nice beaches.. or boracay if you dont mind doing nothing but playing poker, siting on the beach and f***ing girls.

If I were to permanently move to the Philippines, how does poker tax money work? Normally anyone can get away with anything in the Philippines to a certain extent.

Is it possible to keep all poker monies in the Philippines without filing it?

This board doesn't look kindly on tax evasion lol

Just don't HiJack a bus full of tourists and you should be ok,

For educational purpose only.

Depends if your american or not, I know americans are normally tax exempt for the first $80,000 they earn abroad and after that the it falls under taxable income and this goes for americans living anywhere not just the Philippines and you have to be physically away from the USA for a certain amount of months per year. Now in the Philippines there isn't any known income tax for foreign poker players that I know of but good luck finding a bank that's willing to consistently receive large transfers from poker sites without getting suspicious and possibly suspending your account. This was mentioned earlier itt and some of the Thailand 2+2 guys have the same issue of that while finding a bank account willing to accept withdrawals from poker sites isn't the hardest thing, some banks may find your account activities to be considered questionable. That's from what I have read perhaps someone with more expertise in that area could offer a further explanation.

It probably would be easy to get away with not paying taxes particularly if you played on sites not tracked by ptr. Problem is if you actually get caught with large undeclared foreign bank accounts the penalties would be stiff and you would have to pay or not return to the us. Also i am sure you could get a bank to take big deposits without asking questions. It just might not have a great credit rating.

Firstly, check if your home country have a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with PI. Sweden and many other countries don't. If they don't you should be safe from having your home country claim that you should pay tax to them, since they have no idea about your income to your PI bank account, just avoid launder money back to your bank account at home directly via your PI account.
If your country do have a tax exchange agreement with PI, be very careful!

I think there are very few countries other than the US where if you're a non-resident citizen you have to pay taxes on money you don't remit home. Could be wrong though, but I'm assuming mr. tax evasion/fraud/whatever is from the US due to this. I don't think it's a good idea. He'll probably get away with it but it could come back to bite him very hard.

Any of you guys ever live/gone to puerto princesa? Could you give me a little blurb about it if possible? Done mild research on it and this place intrigues me. Kind of looking for a place to go live for a few months after university is over!

edit: cant find any rental properties. Am I just blind?

The properties in puerto princessa are not listed online.
You have to be there inorder to find.
There are plenty of properties for rent and really really cheap

Puerto Princessa- I have never been but I know many people that have. They say Palawan is Amazing. From what I know you have White sandy beaches and great diving.

Renting I would compare it to the rest of the Philippines and my situation here in Sabang .I live just outside of Sabang (Puerto Galera) We rent out a building with 3 Cliff top apartments with amazing views. We ask for PHP 45k for a month for the whole building. If someone came along and offered 30k we would snap their arm off.

The biggest mistake people make when renting a house is they see a place, get offered a price in USD and think **** thats cheap. There is so much property in beach resorts at the moment that you can bargain them down alot!!

You just need a return flight. Or a flight somewhere else within 1.5years

This is wrong. You get 21 days when you come in.


The first extension is to 60 days total it costs approx $60 for this

When that date hits you can extend for another 60 days that costs around $120

Every 60 days you can renew your visa for $120 (5000php).

You can only stay here for 1.5 years. But they don't care if you leave and come back . So in essence you can stay forever.

One tip-If you overshoot your visa don't be worried when immigration are telling you that you are blacklisted and are going to be deported. It basically means you have to pay a $25 fine and then you are fine.

For anyone enquiring about Visas. In the Philippines you can come from almost any country and stay 1.5 years without having to do any ****ty border runs. You also get to mingle with sexy girls.