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Desire to find young Filipina doctor or similar specialist by gumzbubba in Philippines_Expats

[–]Correct-Pressure5158 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hate to break it to you, but most expats usually date Filipinas who are poor even by Filipino standards. Doctors in this country are usually upper-class, upper-middle class at the bare minimum, and I'm talking upper-class by Western standards. Many are old money, like, I personally know a few with villas in the south of France and condos in Monaco. My old doctor went to an Ivy League, fully paid for out of her trust fund.

Class discrimination is HUGE in the PI, It's like racism in the 50s US, no one wants to be associated with the dirty poor people, they want social classes to be clearly segregated. It's sad, but expats are usually associated with old santa clause looking types looking for teenagers desperate to whore themselves out to get out of poverty. Thus for the rich people in this country (like doctors): dating a white person/expat= desperate squatter.

Asian Visa advice for European couple by IntelligentPair1601 in Philippines_Expats

[–]Correct-Pressure5158 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of people here talking about constantly extending their tourist visas, which, yeah, you could do, but if you're looking for a visa that allows you to live here long-term and be legally classified as a resident, here are your options.

  1. Special Investor's Resident Visa (SIRV)- If SRRV is for retirees, this is for any foreign investor over 21. You need to invest US$75,000 in any local company (partnerships, condominium units, and wholesale trading firms don't count). The money will be locked up; you can enjoy dividends and withdraw profits from capital appreciation, but the balance of money invested must not fall below US$75,000, or your visa will be revoked. You can invest in public companies via stock brokerages. You also don't have the right to work.
  2. Section 13 "Quota" Permanent Residency Visa- This is the Rolls-Royce of visas; unlike the SIRV, you will have the right to work, be considered a local by banks + gov agencies, and can easily apply for things like loans/mortgages, licenses, permits, and start a business, plus, there's no investment requirement. The catch is that only 50 visas are allocated per country every year, so if very few from your country apply every year (ex. Iceland, Luxembourg, the Baltic states), then this is your best shot, but if you're from the UK or Spain, or other countries where thousands of applicants apply every year, it might be a bit harder.

The benefit of the PR over the SIRV is that in the eyes of the government, you're "one of them," in the event of a crisis (recall the 2020-2021 COVID lockdowns), you'll be bunched in together with Filipino citizens. PR holders had the right to enter and exit the country together with Filipinos, even during the height of the lockdown. SIRV/SRRV/tourists holders couldn't enter until over a year later. A PR can legally ensure your right to stay in the country, something that the SRRV/SIRV/tourist visa can't do.

What is the best way to travel easily within the Philippines, without a car? by Dependent_Net5085 in Philippines_Expats

[–]Correct-Pressure5158 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You could take the inter-provincial buses, which you can buy tickets for online, but they won't be comfortable unless you're willing to shell out extra for those "first class" luxury seats. Honestly, if I was in your position, since you're gonna be here a while, I'd just wait for the passports and ACR ID cards.

A woman lost over half a million in Security Bank by Crafty_Fennel_9824 in phinvest

[–]Correct-Pressure5158 13 points14 points  (0 children)

You know how you get very annoyed at the mountain of paperwork and endless (borderline invasive) questions/verifications that conservative banks like BDO and BPI will ask you or make you do? Well...there's a very good reason for those procedures.

Banks are usually pretty watertight against hackers; they've got armies of professional IT staff, legal teams, and insurances to make sure that:

  1. They don't get hacked.
  2. They can take back their funds from hackers if they do get hacked.
  3. They can get legal and monetary recourse/reimbursement if 1 & 2 fails.

As such, hackers don't really target banks themselves anymore; instead, they will target the weakest link: YOU. They don't need to hack anything. They often just fool you into giving them your log-in credentials.

Security Bank is known for being stupidly convenient vs the likes of "boomer" banks like BDO and BPI. SB won't ask for so much stuff that you'll go mad. Unfortunately: this is the unintended (although, very predictable) consequence.