Sixth in a Series on Moving Overseas: The Philippine Retirement Authority's Special Resident Retiree's Visa

I'm coming up on the second anniversary of my retirement and the second year of living exclusively on the island of Bali. I'm getting that island fever feeling once again. In times like this, I find that I often end up perusing blogs written by expats who live in other countries in Southeast Asia. Some time back, I started a series of post on moving overseas. They are basically a follow up to the first chapter of my book on moving to Bali, which deals with where is the best place in the region to go.

My first article discussed a website about moving to the Philippines. I didn't go into any real detail on living in the Philippines in that post. The second article was about Venezuela, and it also primarily focused on an expat blog about life in Venezuela. My third article and fourth article's were on Bangkok and Thailand. The fifth article covered Malaysia and its MM2H program for foreigners who want to move to Malaysia. Today, I'm back to the Philippines and their program for foreigners that want to move to the country.

The Philippines has, like Malaysia, a website completely devoted to visas for foreigners who want to move to the country. This website is created and maintained by the Philippine Retirement Authority. The PRA is a government owned corporation with the mission to attract foreigners and former Filipinos to move to the Philippines in order to help with the development of the country by bringing in foreign currency. The PRA offers a variety of forms of assistance for foreigners who are applying for one of the SRRV products. The PRA vision is to “make the Philippines a globally competitive and preferred retirement destination in Asia.” Doesn't that just sound great when compared to some of the hoops that some of the other ASEAN countries place in the way of foreigners who want to retire in SE Asia?

There are four classes of visas called Special Resident Retiree's Visa: SRRV Smile, SRRV Classic, SRRV Human Touch and SRRV Courtesy. Details of each product (as they are called on the website) are clearly listed.

The Smile product is for those foreigners 35 years or older. The applicant needs to deposit $20,000 in an approved bank; this money is not convertible, that is the foreigner cannot access it until they cancel their visa. A one-time application fee of $1,400 is required for the main visa holder, along with $300 for each dependent (each category or product of the SRRV has the same application fee). An annual fee of $360 is required. This covers the main visa holder, the spouse and one dependent. Documents required are a SRRV application form, a passport, a medical clearance examination, police clearance, ID photos and some additional proof for a spouse and dependent.

The Classic product is for foreigners from the ages of 35-49 and from 50 on up. The 35-49 visa requires a $50,000 visa deposit but this can converted into investments that must total at least $50,000. The 50 on up visa is clearly the best bet financially. The visa deposit for this group is $20,000 without a pension or $10,000 with a pension (the pension must be at least $800 per month for singles and $1,000 for married couples). As with the the younger group, the visa deposit is convertible into investments such as a condo or a long-term lease on a house). The annual fees are the same as for the Smile product. Required documents are the same as for the Smile product with the addition of proof of pension.

The Human Touch product is for foreigners who are at least 35 years old and who have a pre-existing physical condition (other than a contagious disease or an illness requiring medical care). The visa deposit is $10,000 and has the same conditions as for the Smile product. Annual fees are the same as for the first two products. Documents are the same as the Classic product with the addition of a health insurance policy.

The Courtesy product is for former Filipino citizens who are at least 35 years old, and for retired diplomats. The visa deposit is $1,500 and this may be converted into investments. The application fees are the same as for the first three categories, but the annual fee is only $10.00. Required documents are an application form, a passport, a medical examination, police clearance, ID photos and additional documents for a spouse and dependents.

It seems that the Classic product is one of the most inexpensive visas for expats who move to Southeast Asia although Indonesia is making a serious attempt to make life easier for those of us who have moved here or want to move here. Next post, I'll take a look at the Indonesia options for retirees and others who want to move to Indonesia.

Third in a Series on Moving Overseas: Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand has always fascinated me. As a long-time expat in Asia, I’ve visited Thailand many times, although I’ve only explored the Bangkok and Chiang Mai areas of the country. Thailand has a huge expat population, many of which are employed in the English language teaching industry. But, Thailand also has a large number of Western retirees. Web sites and blogs on Thailand are numerous with varying quality.

One of the sites that I visit every week is StickmanBangkok.com. The website’s creator, Stickman, has been living and working in Bangkok since 1997. I’ve been following his website since 1999.

While one of the most popular sections on the website is Stick’s weekly column that is mostly about the “naughty nightlife” industry, there are sections on Living and Working in Bangkok, Thailand Visas, Teaching English in Bangkok, Travel in Thailand and more.

You can find specific and detailed information about food, renting an apartment, hiring household help, paying for utilities, local transportation, the Thai language, local culture, dealing with the police, the cost of living in Bangkok and a lot more. Just about anything that you need to get set up in Thailand is available here.

Stickman has been working as a teacher for many years, although he may have retired from that profession now. The section of the website on teaching English is filled with information for the new or potential teacher. If you are thinking of moving to Bangkok and securing a teaching position, you should definitely read this section.

So, if you’re thinking of moving to Thailand, part of your homework should be taking a look at Stickman’s site.

Second in a Series on Moving Overseas: Margarita Island, Venezuela

I’ve been writing about living overseas online for the past 15 years; most of my writing has been about living in Asia – an obvious location as I live in Indonesia. But, expats and potential expats these days have the world to choose from. South and Central America is one of the popular locations for both Europeans and North Americans. Today’s site is about Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Margarita Island is a Venezuelan island in the Carribean Sea. The island is known for its white sand beaches and laid-back lifestyle. The website that I’m highlighting is written by an expat who has lived on Margarita Island for over 20 years. While the layout of the website is basic at best, the information therein is first rate. The site creator is a Canadian, Dan O’Brien, and he covers all the basics that a potential expat needs to know when making a plan for a move to paradise. Dan has a little villa, bed and breakfast, and is married to a Venezuelan lady so you would expect that he has a good grasp on the local realities. One of the pluses of this site is that Dan updates it regularly. This is an important part of a site that offers information on moving overseas.

Dan has information on weather, property ownership, foreign exchange matters, starting a business or looking for work, costs of living, language, banking, hiring household help, the political situation (something that you want to keep track of these days), medical issues, and transportation. I found the information here very helpful, and it answered most of the questions that I would have before moving to a foreign country.

One of the comments that I particularly liked was Dan’s advice: “I strongly recommend that anyone considering a permanent move to Margarita Island first rent from 6 months to a year to see if living here is to your liking.” As I’ve mentioned before when discussing Bali, I’m amazed at the number of people who just move to an island location without ever having visited. It might seem like a cool, impulsive thing to do, but island living is not for everyone, and it really is advisable to try it before you move lock, stock and barrel.

So if you’re interested in moving to an island in South America, check out Dan’s site.