Here’s what Sighh had to say:

I’m in the philippines and tried for the 13a spousal visa, but the interview went terrible. My wife and I have been married 2 years, our immigration to the usa is still pending. So i flew to the philippines to stay with her until we are approved. I had some extra money from the usa coming in and my wife works so we figured it would no problem. (we were wrong)

We get to the interview and they are late, 30 min late to be exact. No problem we thought, eventually we are told to speak to the “special investigator”” about our application

So while there, this guy makes a bunch of insane accusations . Here is a sample of how it went

The investigator said, why arent you with your ex wife? (she is not filipina my ex wife is american) I explained that my ex wife cheated and abandoned the marriage so I filed for divorce.

The investigator said “Yeah I bet you were cheating too” I thought what??? I explained that was false . Then he said ” you are a wanted person at interpol” I just laughed and said no, and I showed him my police clearance that I got from the usa (notarized paper showing i had no warrants or problems etc)

He didnt care to see any paper I handed him, he didnt even look at them. He then went on and on about marriage fraud claiming people get married just to get a visa (mind you we have been married 2 years and its my 3rd trip to the philippines)

At the end of the interview my wife was in tears, the guy was rude and hateful. Im not sure why we were so polite. He said I didnt have enough money to stay in the philippines ( yet they have no problem with me paying $60+ for 30 day visa stamps) When I do have some income from the usa, they demanded proof which I didnt have, as i had just arrived. I explained that I did not read any money requirements or specific amount needed. (I explained I am not a burden and showed my wife and I bank account info) which he did not accept

Once we were told to leave we were not given any information of what to check on, or any phone # to call, he just told us to leave and thats it

My wife and I are hurt and no idea what to do at this point =(

This is John’s response:

Sighh: Wow…, I’ve honestly never heard of such situations at BI here. The staff can occasionally be abrupt, but that seems uncalled for. I really don’t know what you could do as regards the 13a except perhaps retain an attorney and re-apply.

Perhaps one of the lawyers who read this site will have a suggestion. Since you are in the midst of obtaining US residency, the tourist visa may be the best bet and just extend.

Yes, that’s right, you read it correctly, it will now cost you more to be a US Citizen, or to not be a US Citizen!  Amazing, huh?

The fees for a US Passport have been raised by the US Government.  Previously, the application fee was $55, but was raised by 27% to a new amount of $70.  There is also a Passport Security surcharge, which has been $20, but was increased to $40, a 100% fee increase!

Old Glory - the price just went up!

Need more pages in your passport?  That used to be done for free, but there is now a fee of $82, to cover the cost of the pages, the time spent affixing the pages, and a “quality control check” of your passport.  Amazing, $0 to $82.  Quite a jump.

Perhaps the biggest new fee, though, is that they are now going to charge you money to renounce your US Citizenship!  Yes, that’s right, it used to be free to renounce citizenship (although difficult to do), and now the fee for doing so is $450.  In recent years, there has been a huge increase in Americans renouncing their US Citizenship, perhaps this is just one last way to squeeze you for a few more bucks, before you leave the country!

All of this new information comes from the Associated Press.

99 Ways to Make a Living on the Internet

OK, that’s the bad news this morning, but I have some good news too!  Starting today, and for the next week, I am going to offer a special deal on my books!  My newest book is 99 Ways to Earn a Living on the Internet, and it covers 99 different ways that you can make money via the Internet.  I’ve been earning a living on the Internet for more than 15 years now, going on 20!  That’s a long time, and I have a bit of expertise in the process.  This book will help you get started along the road of earning money on the Internet yourself!  The books is $49.

My most popular book over the years has been 49 Ways to Make a Living in the Philippines.  This book covers ways to make a living on the Internet, off the Internet, and combination ideas that will utilize the Internet and off-Internet means of making a living.  This book has been selling for $49 for the past several years, but I recently reduced it to $39 when I introduced the new book.

49 Ways to Make a Living in the Philippines

Well, for the next 7 days, you can get both books for just $59.00.  Yes, that means that when you buy the 99 Ways book, you get the 49 Ways for only an additional $10.00, a savings of $29.00.  Great deal for those who take advantage of it and make their purchase withing the next 7 days!  So, the deal is good as soon as you read this, and runs through 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 12, 2012.  So, get it now!  This combo offer is normally $78.00, or $88 if you buy the books individually, so you can get a nice savings by purchase during the special!

To take advantage of this special price, click on the Buy Now link below, and enter the coupon code – LiPSavings – in your shopping cart.  That’s “LiPSavings” with no quotation marks.

A lot of these same people come back to me in a few years and say something like, “Bob, after living here a while, I found that you are right, there are a lot of things to get used to here.” or something along those lines.  I’m telling you, I love living the Philippines.  I love the Filipino people.  I have no desire to go back to the States, or anywhere else for that matter.  But, I needed to adjust to a lot of things here, and I know that you will too.  Some things I have not adjusted to, and on many of those things, I have just decided to accept that I won’t make those adjustments.  No problem with that, to be honest.

Bob with his Apo (grandchild) Ivan. We are happy campers!

I don’t know why it is, but I know a number of people whom I have known to be nice people, calm, relaxed and such, and then they move to the Philippines and seemingly lose all control of themselves.  Frankly, not only do I “know some people” like that, I have done it myself.  Nearly ever foreigner that I know who moves here does it.

Back when I lived in GenSan, from 2000 until 2002, I met a fellow from California.  Super nice guy!  Always very friendly.  I met him on his first trip to the Philippines.  He liked it here so much that he started visiting about every 2 to 3 months or so.  He would stay for a couple of weeks, go home to take care of his business for a month or two, and come back for another vacation.  Every time he came to town, we would get together, and I truly enjoyed his company.  After a year or so of these types of visits, he decided to sell his business in the States, and he moved permanently to the Philippines!  I was quite happy that I would have a new friend who would be living here like I did.

My friend was a bit angry!

When he first moved here permanently, I took him around town to take care of some things he needed to take care of.  After finishing up our errands, I asked him if he wanted to stop and eat lunch, which he was happy to do.  When we got to the restaurant, he ordered some kind of drink, I don’t recall what it was.  The restaurant was “out of stock” on that type of drink, which is quite common here.  My friend blew up.  He went ballistic.  I don’t know for sure why he did, but I was sitting there at the table absolutely as embarrassed as I could be.   We were at one of my favorite restaurants, a place where I went often, and I was well known there.  Suddenly my lunch guest was running around the place yelling at people, just going absolutely berserk.  I didn’t know what I could do, but it took a long time before I went back to that restaurant again, I was just too embarrassed to show my face there again.

While this friend’s outburst at the restaurant was probably the worst that I’ve seen here, the truth is that such behavior, played a bit less angrily, is something that I have seen from many expats here, newcomers mostly.  I used to be like that too, and I am not proud of it.  What I am proud of is that I have overcome this kind of behavior, at least for the most part.  From time to time, I will get frustrated and get angry about something, but in a much calmer way than I used to.  And, getting angry at all is a pretty rare thing now.  Why?  I have learned to not sweat the small stuff, and if you want to live in the Philippines, you’ll have to learn that too, or you won’t be very happy living here, because the truth is that there are tons of those small annoyances.  Not a day will go by that you won’t be challenged with some kind of hassle.  The question is, how will you deal with it.

In my case, there are a couple of reasons why I have been able to overcome this kind of anger issue.  First, learning the language helps a lot, because you can often more easily understand why there is a problem.  Secondly, in my case, because I have become fairly well known through this blog and my other blogs, if I do blow up in public like I often see from other expats, I may well see a video of the event on YouTube!  Ha ha… that is something I certainly would not want to see!  So, I think that I have become pretty successful at controlling my anger at the thousands of little annoyances that are so common in the Philippines.

Other small stuff comes to mind too, stuff that is not so much an annoyance, but simple things that are uncomfortable.

The other day I was out walking around my neighborhood.  I came to a street corner, and there was an absolutely terrible smell.  This is so common in the Philippines, a lot of stuff here stinks.  It used to be something that bothered me, but now, well, I just walk past and it’s not really an issue.  Go to the public market and you will certainly encounter a lot of stinky stuff.  Bulad (dried fish) and other such things.  Well, I don’t like the smell, but I can control my disgust and not have a big issue with it.  Some bad smells I have actually come to like!  Everybody says that durian smells bad.  I used to think it had a terrible smell.  Now, though, I like the smell, even enjoy smelling durian.  I guess it’s a matter of having lived here for a long time, and also the fact that I eat durian and have become accustomed to the smell.  In fact, I don’t even call it a smell or an odor anymore, I prefer to call it the fragrance or bouquet of the durian!  Ha ha.

Perhaps one of the reasons that we see so many other expats who blow up in anger is because of the fact that there are so many little annoyances here that when a big problem pops up, it is just the final straw and the anger is released.  I can’t really say for sure why it is that so many foreigners here have anger management problems, but I am guessing that it is the “straw that broke the camel’s back” syndrome that we are dealing with.  What I do know is that I am glad that this is not a big problem for me anymore.  And, I’m telling those of you who have a desire to live here… try to get this part of your life in the Philippines out of the way as quickly as you can.  When you are able to do that, you will enjoy life a lot more in the Philippines, I can guarantee you that.

This is what Lica said:

Hi sir, Im a US citizen. And Iam going back to the Phil.this november. I was just wondering if I have to pay charges when I stay there for morethan 2 years.

And this is what Bob had to say:

Hello Lica,– If you are only a US citizen, you cannot stay here for 2 years, you are limited to 16 months before you must leave.

Thank you for dropping by Lica, and good luck on your trip.

This is what Alan had to say:

John

Fantastic report which has convinced me to go for a 13a visa.

I flit in and out of the Philippines but usually get the 1 year visa when entering with my wife. The problem that we have is setting up bill payments etc from our HSBC account. Apparently as a current non-resident there are many restrictions. Also I have to send money to a UK savings account then ask them ever so nicely to transfer the money to my PHP account so that I can use it. Trivial things but having to make multiple transactions every month at 17GBP per time is a pain.

Anyway, to my questions about the 13a application I know most of the information is there above but so many people have used your good advice and asked questions that it takes some sifting through now to find the answers.
1) I believe that police clearance is not required when applying in the Philippines. Is this correct. I am an oil industry designer and have worked in about 8 different countries in the last 5 years so it would be nigh on impossible to get all of the clearances!
2) Is it correct that after the initial filing and hearing that I can leave the country? I work in Singapore currently and obviously don’t want more than a month off work.

Any info would be gratefully received.

Here’s John’s response:

Alan: They didn’t ask me for it, but I had it anyway… I would obtain the clearances based on your official residence (I know a lot of people in that industry… Many used their company address or the address of their tax returns as a “residence”, since jobs could be 1 month or 3 years. You most likely will not need it if you apply here, though. (It may be better to get it anyway… Some things will require it)

As to leaving the country for work, you must notify BI before the hearing… You will need to be present here at least at filing, and to pick up the docs.

Wow, the photo really, really looked good.  Nice bun and a huge piece of meat.  Just P25?  I decided that on the way home I was going to stop there and pick up a couple burgers for lunch.  I usually only eat one burger, but I figured that for P25 it might not be as big as the photo suggested, so I’d get 2 just in case.

A Hamburger - Not the one they served me!

Well, I waited about 45 minutes for the burgers to be made.  I got them “to go” and brought them home with me.  When I got home and looked at the burgers… they had huge buns.  The meat inside was about the size of a slice of pickle!  That small, and that thin also.  I think that I would need about 10 or 12 of those burgers, take all the “meat patties” and put them on one bun, and I’d have a small burger then!  Ha ha.  I combined the two meat patties on to one bun, but it was still just a bunch of bread and not much else.  What a terrible lunch.  Believe me, I won’t be having many more Amara burgers!  And, I waited 45 minutes for that?  Oh my…  at least I took it all in good stride!

Well, I was having an e-mail exchange with a friend this morning, and I told him about my burger experience.  He suggested that the burger reminded him of the old Wendy’s Commercial, “Where’s the Beef.”  For those who have not seen that video, have a look below:

The only thing I could suggest was that my friend was right on target!  I had forgotten about the Wendy’s ad, but it certainly mirrored my experience.

You know, I am going to tell you the absolute truth on this… when I saw that sign for the hamburgers yesterday, the picture of the burger looked so darned good that the whole time I was in the City, I was thinking of the Amara Burger, and how I was going to pick one up on the way home.  It had literally taken control of my mind, and all I could think about was that succulent burger!  Ha ha… I should have considered that you can’t get much for P25!  Actually, I did think of that, but I dismissed it thinking that this was some kind of loss leader promo to get people in to the restaurant!  Ha ha… Another thing, when I got home, I opened the burger and found it was slathered with Mayo (which I don’t like), and Banana Catsup, which I can barely tolerate.  There was more sauce on the burger than meat!  Ha ha.. oh well, lesson learned.

So, that’s the way the burger bounces in the Philippines!

Here is what Amor had to say:

hello, my bro, on an extended mla. vacation, is an american citizen who wants to get a dual citizenship. He is leaving for the US in june. would it be better to get the dual citizenship here in manila or in ca.? he needs to get a dual citizenship for his youngest daughter (studying in ca.) as well. can you give us an idea on what to do and where to go?

And here is Bob’s response to Amor:

Was your brother a Philippine citizen in the past? I need to know that before I can answer your question.

This is what Mann had to say:

Thank you for sharing this lengthy yet very informative piece. Just one question: Upon getting this probationary visa, one could be eligible to work in the Philippines? Or you have to wait for one year since this is probationary? On top of the 13a, one still has to apply for a work permit? Thanks in advance!

This is John’s response:

Mann: My understanding is that the 13a, probationary or permanent, makes you eligible to apply for a work permit.

LiP is about 5 1/2 years old now.  LiP started out as a small site, but it grew quite rapidly.  The first 6 months saw little traffic on the site, not many visitors and not much group participation on the site.

After about 6 or 7 months, I convinced Feyma to write on the site as well.  Within about 2 more months, I brought on 2 or 3 other writers, and that has continued over the past 4 years or so.  Today, I feel that we have a very strong group of writers here on the Live in the Philippines Web Magazine.

What is the milestone?

100,000 Comments and Counting!

So, what is the big milestone on LiP?  We have just hit a mark that few websites hit.  As of a few minutes ago, Live in the Philippines got it’s 100,000th comment!  Yes, there are now more than 100k comments on this site!  Few websites even achieve this goal, and I am quite proud of it.

But, this is not an achievement of mine alone.  This is a big achievement for every writer on LiP, and also for the LiP family.  Every person who has left a comment here has a hand in this achievement.  I want to thank every one of you for your contribution to LiP, and making it the number one website about Living in the Philippines.  That position cannot be challenged, even just based on community participation on the site!  LiP was one of the original websites on this topic niche, and it is my goal to continue to hold the very top spot in that niche.

With the continued help of the great community here, there is no doubt that goal will continue to be a reality!

Congratulations, everybody, on hitting the big 100K in the number of comments!

Today, I am going to address the area of the culture that I really only started adapting recently, and that is transportation.

Mitsubishi Adventure

When we first moved to the Philippines, I could not wait to buy a car, or some kind of vehicle so that I could get around.  Within the first 2 weeks of living here, even before our container containing our possessions had arrived, we bought a Mitsubishi Adventure, which is an AUV, or an Asian Utility Vehicle.  An AUV is like an SUV, but a bit smaller. We bought about the top of the line that Mitsubishi was offering at the time, and the cost back then was about US$15,000 at that time.  Prices on such vehicles are a lot higher now, though.  I really have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of our Adventure, and in fact, I have gone on many Adventures using the Mitsubishi Adventure, I can assure you of that!

Over the years, though, I must say that I have driven less and less, to the point that these days, I drive very little.  Probably once per week on average, I will take the AUV out for a spin around town, but sometimes I don’t even make it out in the car.  I still go out on a regular basis, I just don’t drive!

What do you do, Bob, take the taxi?

No, actually, I only use the taxi on very rare occasions to be honest.  Read forward and I’ll tell you what I do for transportation!

Riding the Bus in the Philippines

Riding the bus to GenSan

Starting a few years ago, in 2008 or 2009, I started riding the bus if I was taking a long trip (unless it was a very long trip, in which case I would fly). But, for going around Mindanao, I like to ride the bus.  I got started riding the bus because I didn’t feel like driving, and thought I’d just take the bus on that one trip, but I liked it, and decided to use the bus more often.   As I write this, tomorrow I am going to General Santos City for some business I need to take care of.  No question, I’m riding the bus!

There are some very nice buses here too, very modern.  Most of the buses have video on them too, and play movies and such.  To be honest, I don’t pay much attention to the movies, though, they are usually Tagalog movies anyway, so it is of no interest to me.  I like to bring along my MP3 player and just listen to music and “rest my eyes” if you know what I mean!

Riding the Jeepney in the Philippines

Jeepney

For local transportation, I started a  new routine about 6 months ago.  I ride the jeepney!  It all started out because one day I didn’t have anything to do, and decided to go jump on a jeepney and just see where it went.  I didn’t really know the routes or anything, I just did it all by chance.  I enjoyed it, to be honest, and I felt like a cultural learning experience.  I like to ride the jeepneys now as much as possible, too.  I know all of the routes, which jeepneys I need to ride to get where I am going, etc.  I used to feel embarrassed to get on the jeepney, what would the local people think?  Now, though, I feel like I fit right in.  Nobody laughs or is overly shocked.  Oh, from time to time I will see one or two people who are surprised to see a foreigner on a jeepney, but that just adds to the fun.

I used to consider jeepneys to be a poor transportation system, an inconvenience for “real drivers” with cars, etc.  Now, though, I don’t feel that way at all.  In fact, I think that jeepneys are a pretty good transport system.  My only complaint is that a lot of jeepneys really do pollute the air, and I do wish they would clean that up.  But, I find the jeepney system to be easy to use, cheap, convenient, and also a pretty darn efficient system for transporting thousands of riders day after day.

When I ride the jeepney, I like the “people watching” aspect of it.  I like to just observe what people do on the jeepney, how the  act, interaction among riders and such.  It’s pretty fascinating to me!  One thing I notice is that most local people tend to keep to themselves when they are on the jeepney.  I like to talk to the other passengers, strike up a conversation, etc.  It adds to the fun for me!  It’s also a good chance for me to practice speaking Cebuano and learn even more!

Speaking of riding the jeepney being cheper than driving or taking a taxi, the fare for a normal length ride on the jeepney is P8.  For a further ride it might be up to P12 or so, but 99% of the time you will pay P8.  Now, consider that just the flag down rate for a taxi is P40 now.  That means that you can ride 5 different jeepney rides for just the flag down rate on a taxi.  For example, if I go from my house to Abreeza Mall in Davao City, that will usually cost nearly P150 on a taxi.  On a jeepney, the total cost would be P16!  Amazing difference, huh?  I certainly don’t ride jeepney because of the financial reasons, though, I’m just adding that here as an added bonus.  The reason I ride the jeepneys is because I enjoy it!

Another reason why I like to ride the jeepney is because it also means that I get to walk a fair amount.  I like to walk for exercise, and if I ride the jeep, it usually means that I have to do a bit of walking to get to the proper place where the jeepneys are.  For example, Jeepneys don’t run in front of our house, I have to walk about a half mile to catch the jeepney, then of course a half mile when I come home too.  Also, there is usually some extra walking involved in the City too.  Because of this, I feel healthier, and am in better shape than if I was driving.  I consider that to be a real bonus.

You know, I can’t say for sure, but if I knew back in 2000 what I know now, maybe I would not have even purchased a vehicle of my own.  I do admit, though, that I got a lot of good use out of that Mitsubishi Adventure, and it carried me to a lot of cool places.  That vehicle has been to nearly every part of Mindanao now, and it’s never let me down!  Not bad for a vehicle that is now 12 years old!