Non immigration tourist visa 59 day stay

Balikbayan stamp it is not a visa but a privilege, best to have the marriage certificate on you when you present at the immigration counter, you will only get this easily if you have everything you need with you on entry.

The on arrival extension was easy when you arrived in NAIA 1 but no one has reported here on the process if you arrive at NAIA 3, it would be good if someone who has done this could report on where the BI office in NAIA 3 is, I've done this in NAIA 1 but there it is before the immigration desks not after, the cost many years ago was less than 3000 peso but I don't know the cost now.

You can also extend at the BI office in Intramuros after arrival but that is a little more onerous, when I tried to do that in 2010 (Iceland Volcano) they told me I already had a Balikbayan stamp and didn't need it, I actually had the stamp in error as when I returned with Ana we were not married, that office is quite busy a lot of the time.

Tick no, as that is the truth.

It is not a visa it is a privilege it is defined as visa-free stay. edit: a better definition http://immigration.gov.ph/faqs/visa-inquiry/balikbayan-privilege

for want of a better source the Singapore site has a good definition.

https://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/the-philippines-2/travel-to-the-philippines/

If paying in cash for the extension it is required to be local currency, in NAIA 1 they had a card reader back in 2010 as that is how I paid.

A visa-free period is a period of time where a visa is not required, the stamp in your passport when when you arrive is not a visa it is an entry stamp detailing the beginning of your visa free period which now lasts 30 days in the case of the Philippines for a UK traveller.

This is my BB stamp, the only difference from a normal entry stamp is that there is no date specified for exit from the country. (I was given this in error but even the BI didn't object when I went to see them about it)

You will almost certainly have had these as well.




This link is to the BI http://immigration.gov.ph/faqs/visa-inquiry/balikbayan-privilege

The privilege grants you entry without a visa for a period of one year correct, the stamp is the same stamp as the normal entry stamp, they write BB instead of writing the date you need to leave, look at all of my other entry stamps, they all have a hand written exit date or a stamped exit date.

It's hard to see here but that is I think supposed to say BB there is no exit date but I would have been expected to leave by Apr 6th 2011 as that is implied by the BB privilege.

Definitely the preferred route if it is available to you.

On my question does anyone know where the BI office is airside at NAIA 3 ?

No the balikbayan stamp expires on exit immediately, so if you enter on 01/01/2020 and leave on 15/05/2020 when you come back you get 30 day visa-free entry stamp to the country if you are travelling alone as you no longer have Balikbayan privilege, if on the other hand your wife left with you and you both came back on 01/06/2020 then you would get a new Balikbayan privilege valid for 12 months from 01/06/2020.

I entered the Phils with Ana on April 6th 2010 then the volcano went up in Iceland and I got stranded, I left early May, I came back in June 2010 to do some wedding Photography for my friend when I came back I got the normal 21 day visa-free entry stamp, you can see it in my earlier photo entry stamp 10 June 2010 written on the stamp 07/01/2010 or 1st of July 2010 the date I had to leave by.

John look up the phrase visa-free, the definition is "without a visa" not a free visa.

I have only ever visited the Philippines with a visa about 4 or 5 times when I explicitly got first a single entry visa for more than 21 days and second where I got a multi-entry visa and used it 4 times in a year, out of about 30 visits 25 of them were without a visa, you don't get a visa on arrival you get a period of time that is free to you "without a visa".

This is a visa, indeed this is that one that lets you enter the country for up to 59 days multiple times a year :

I should also have added this following point earlier, the Balikbayan privilege is not granted to you it is granted to your wife it is her right as a Balikbayan to have her foreign husband or children granted extended entry to the Philippines on her return to the Philippines which is why you can't leave and come back on your own.