 |
| I don't know if you remember this photo when I first arrived from Bacolod city to iloilo city. I took a picture of this building across the harbour from our port. I need to find the Bureau of Immigration in order to extend my visa before March 3rd and found out this building is where the Bureau of Immigration is. |
 |
| Using google I found the address of the Bureau of Immigration and then punched it into google maps and was able to pull up what the building looked like and when I saw it on google maps I remembered it was the one I took the photo of (above). |
 |
| This is stepping into the main entry way of the Bureau of Immigration. For a government building it doesn't look too professional with all that stuff piled up all over the place. |
 |
| They have helpful signs like this that tell you the process. Quite easy. |
 |
| The first thing I had to do was fill out this visa extension application with just the basic information like my name, country, birth date, etc... |
 |
| How the visas in the Philippines work is this 1) upon entry into the Philippines they stamp your passport with an entry visa that is good for 30 days from the day of arrival. I arrived on Feb 1st and my entry visa expires on March 3rd 2) With my entry visa expiring I went into the iloilo city Bureau of Immigration and for 3030 pesos ($82 cdn) I got an extra 29 days added to my March 3rd deadline which now gives me to April 1st 3) Before April 1st I will be in Mindanao somewhere and will have to find a Bureau of Immigration again and this time I will have to apply for a ACR I-card (Alien Certificate of Registration card) which gives you an extension of 59 days and every 59 days after that you renew again at the Bureau of Immigration. So 30days + 29 days + 59 days= 118 days which is way more than I need on my next renewal date of April 1st. |
 |
| Cost for the 59 day extension after the first application where you get an ACR I-card. |
 |
| On my way back to my hotel I saw this posting on a telephone pole. Seeing all the people working for peanuts around the Philippines I would be all over this opportunity. Good jobs here are between 8,000-12,000 pesos per month and this one is 45,642 pesos + over time pay. 10% of the Philippine population are OFWs (Overseas filipino workers). |
On Guimaras Island I googled the Bureau of Immigration for iloilo city as my entry visa was expiring soon and I needed to renew it. With google and google maps I found the building and knew roughly where it was so once I got settled into my hotel I headed over there and the whole process took 1 hour from the time I showed up to the time I left.
I took a waiting number as well as a visa extension application form (See photo above) and filled it out in 5 minutes and then went into the waiting room. As I waited I saw mostly asians in there but one white guy who looked like he was in his late 40s and he was missing both arms!! Just to small hands protruded out of his shoulders and he had an attractive filipina gf. A white guy in a wheel chair would be like elvis presley around here lol!
The immigration guy called me up and took my passport and application form and scanned it quickly and then said "3,030 pesos please" at which I paid him. He takes the application and photo copies it and comes back and asks me for an additional 4 pesos for the fax. Only in a 3rd world country do you have to pay for government faxes. He then told me to wait outside for them to process it which I did. As I waited outside I saw an older white guy (early 60s) arrive with his filipina wife and their infant baby.
30 minutes later the immigration woman came out and said something to me that I didn't recognize at all like she was speaking her own language and then the security guards called me by name so she was calling for me but must have been pronouncing my name completely wrong and she gave me my receipt and a Bureau of Immigration certificate approving me of my 29 day extension. It really is just a money grab. I read the certification with has my name, birth date and country on it stating that I DO NOT APPEAR in this Bureaus hold departure, black list, watch list, and/or intelligence derogatory records as of February 27th. Sounds like BIG BROTHER isn't looking for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment