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Buying a House
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I just got married to a beautiful Filipino woman. I’m wanting to buy a house now. What steps do I need to take? I’m in the Philippines on a tourist visa.
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First off, if you ant to stay in the Philippines, you need to apply for a Temporary Resident Visa instead of a Tourist Visa, You will need your Passport, Marriage License and then go to immigration, it is a tiresome process but well worth it, you will go from window to window and then you will be told when you can come back and meet with the inhouse attorneys, your wife will have to be with you for the attorney visit, they ill then sign your papers and send them on, then you keep checking their internet site to see when your name appears to go pick your card up. You will have to pay money at about every window you go to. They also require a Police report, you need to go to the Police for this, they take pictures and fingerprints and a few more windows to go to, when you walk in there is a small desk, ask them for help and they will get you right through, ( a 2,000 peso tip goes a long ways) the Temporary Resident visa is good for one year, no check ins, after about 8 to 9 months, you need to start the paperwork for a Permanent Resident Visa, ( good for 5 years with yearly check ins, these can be made at any local immigration office in which ever town you live in). Ok, now back to your original question, YOU can not own a house in the Philippines, your spouse can. It is not hard to do if you have money, My house is in My wifes name but My income was the deciding factor, I signed all the paperwork so I am on the loan as secondary. Good luck to you, the Philippines is an awesome place..
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First you should watch this. Then watch this. This is incredibly common in the Philippines. Be very, very careful as you will have absolutely no rights to any real estate you may purchase. Getting redress is unlikely although I have seen Raffy Tulfo extract some money from a Filipina miscreant who tried this. We do pay the mortgage on my wife’s property in the Phils, but we have been together coming up on six years, we’re both in Canada and we don’t have a huge age gap in our relationship. And we’re both working in Canada with a blended income so I’m quite relaxed about any potential risks. But if you’re sure you want to take the risk, work towards acquiring a 13A visa first. I love the Philippines but harbor few illusions about how the decks are stacked against foreigners.