Good afternoon/evening depending on where you are. I am lucky enough to be married to a beautiful & loving Filipino lady. We have been together 15 years & married 13. We met over here in UK, she is a nurse & I to worked in NHS. We go to the Philippines every 2 to 3 years & always hate leaving. Each time we stay longer but it always seems shorter. We plan to retire (although I am already retired) there in about 5 years. My wife's family own land/property in Manila & Batac, Ilocos Norte, but the plan is to live in Batac as there is an excellent golf course, stunning beaches & good fishing. What more can a (future) ex pat want? Always interested in advice etc on the future move. Thanks for reading.
Nioclik. Glad to have you on board. Sounds like you have a good life going on and potentially in the future also sounds rosy. You couldn't get much further North than Batac I see. We do have some members who/have reside/resided in Pinas and may be able to part with some of their knowledge. Good luck with the future plans
Hi nioclik. Im not a financial adviser or anything but here are the stuff that i'd consider (i'm considering the below points as i plan to retire before i reach my 60s): - will you be staying in ph permanently? If yes, you need to explore the option of getting a visa of some sort (not sure personally); - check how you'd have access to your pension (ie US pensioners cant stay away for more than 6 months outside of the US, not sure if its applicable in the UK) - as advised by most ppl in the forum, dont sell any real estate in UK. It gives you flexibility in the future. Rent them out etc (airbnb or equivalent?); - get a good health plan as ph doesnt have comprehensive hospitalization package; - do you have your own house in ph? As you say your wife's family owns a lot but how about a house and lot of your own? As foreigner cant own land in ph, have you considered owning a condo unit in manila or nearby place? - have you considered what you'll be doing while in retirement in ph? Farming? Some sort of a business? - have you saved enough for your move and future retirement venture? Cost of living in ph isnt that much. Calculated around php 30k a month (or around 500£ but that is living very comfortably without paying house and a car). - how will you move any money from uk to ph or vice versa. - how about your children? Pets? Will they relocate as well? I know 5 years is far away but as they say its never too early to plan for something as major as retirement.
Bearing in mind that he and his Filipina wife will be retiring to Batac, there is absolutely no advantage in holding a visa such as a 13(a) Spousal Settlement visa or a Non-Quota residential visa certainly whilst they are fit enough to travel. His wife simply produces a copy of their Marriage Certificate to the Immigration Officer upon arrival and asks for a Balikbayan Privilege. This is valid for twelve months and they simply leave the country together prior to expiry for a day or so and request a further Balikbayan Privilege upon their return. His UK pensions can continue to be paid to his UK bank accounts and he can either us his British Debit and Credit cards or open accounts with HSBC (or BPI) in both UK and Phils and transfer funds between them either free of charge (HSBC) or at low cost (BPI). Condos are very bad investments. According to his OP, playing golf, lazing on the beach and fishing! £500 would cover all the essentials - electricity (the single most costly ongoing expense), water, LPG, vehicle running expenses and so on but it won't entirely cover the cost of imported food items which they would likely require from various emporia in Manila (or possibly imported via Amazon).
Condos may or may not be OK for an investment, but I for one could never live in one, not full time anyway. The condos in Philippines are tiny, I would go totally stir crazy after just short while.
You might have answered some of my questions for retirement - so you have to fly out of the ph (ie HK) to renew the balikbayan privilage? And can you continue to do that indefinitely? - no minimum number of days required to stay in UK to be paid your pension? Can you be in ph for 50 weeks out of 52? - there are good condos around but an option for expats since they cant own a piece of land. im just saying that they need to sort out a house of required (they can have it built before the 5 year is up etc) since renting involves a lot of unknown.
A balikbayan can be extended at BOI too http://www.immigration.gov.ph/faqs/visa-inquiry/balikbayan-previlege https://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/the-philippines-2/travel-to-the-philippines/ As you say foreigners cant buy land/property (non-condo) but filipino partners of foreigners can. Condos arent a good option.
Ha-Ha! It looks like it but sorry, no cigar. What is described on that page is exactly the same as applies to a normal visitor - paid-for extensions of stay (aka "visa extension").
i think an epat needs to return to the UK periodically to continue to get NHS cover--if thats relevant to the individual.
that's right but if any thing happends to your partner the land then becomes yours as well as the house but you need to prove that yous where married that's what I have been told
Thanks for all the advice. We have a BPI account, one based in UK & one in Manila. We will keep our UK bank & have all pension(s) paid into there. Then transfer money to the BPI. Pretty much as we do now when sending money to family or when we go over to visit etc. We will be building a house in Batac on Family land. As we have been together for a long time already & know each others foibles etc I can not see us separating etc so land lawsI cannot see being an issue. We have no children etc, although I have grown up daughters from a previous marriage. Our dog will, I doubt, still be with us in 5 years time as she is already 10 years old. We will be selling our house here as I have no intention of returning, except to visit. Plus as the mortgage will be paid & the house will give us a good return this is our means of living quite comfortably (that plus 2 NHS pensions & state pensions). Plus pay for a house to be built. Nor do I intend to work there. Despite being offered various opportunities to go on the medical lecture circuit. We have looked at both 13a Visa & balikbayan privilege route, not made a firm decision yet. As she also has her brothers & sister based in Manilla etc we will be travelling to & fro there. I hope I have answered all queries, thanks for your advice, please keep it coming. Out of intent how many ex British on this forum living in Philippines? Steve
when I get to that I am going to retire to the Philippines as my wife and I have already built the house there on the land she got from her dad and mum I have to look into how to get my pensions from government over there and my works pension if you have any futher help to give i would begreatful to you as I need to start to think about it
# . "Out of intent how many ex British on this forum living in Philippines?" @Bootsonground @Micawber
You seem to have covered most of the bases already, well done sir! Having read the above, I would repeat my recommendation of using the Balikbayan Privilege rather than apply for a 13(a), certainly initially and whilst you're both young and active . However, should you decide to apply for a 13(a), you will need to obtain a Police Clearance Certificate from ACPO shortly before you emigrate. Given your assets and income, a further word of advice seems in order: do not transfer more funds than you need immediately into your Philippine bank account. In theory, deposits of up to Php500,000 are covered by PDIC deposit insurance but from personal experience, such rarely applies to foreigners and/or their family.
thank you for the information it is really good of you to give me this as I have only been married to my pina wife for 4 years now we are still fine out things that we can and cant do with the rules
Hi Nioclik I am Brit, just finished building our house in Davao. Planning to retire and move there full time this year.
hi I am a brit who is still in England but we have our house in bayugan not that far from you in Davao we built our house for not much money it was 250,000 peso we are planning to retire when I get to that age over there
