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Step-by-Step Process: Retirement
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How do you retire in the Philippines and what is the best way to send all your stuff? Is there a step-by-step process?
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My wife, son and I are American citizens. l’m a Vietnamese-American, and our 12 year old son was born in Dallas, Texas. My wife was born in Manila, but lost her Filipino citizenship after moving to the U.S., because she did not renew her Filipino passport. We just basically bought 3 one way tickets to Manila and flew here on February 2012. When asked by a Customs Officer why we don’t have return tickets to the U.S., we told him that we were moving here. The Customs Officer stamped a 1 year departure date on our passports. We were given 1 year to get our documents in order, so that we can live permanently in the Philippines. My wife filed to re-acquire her Filipino citizenship and petitioned our minor son as a naturalized Filipino citizen. This process took about 1 month and costs about $50 total. Since I am an adult foreigner, my wife can only petition me for permanent residency. This process took about 3 months and costs about $400. As a permanent resident, I have to check in annually at immigration before March 1st. The annual check in at a satellite immigration office in Makati City takes about 5 minutes and costs about $6. I also have to renew my permanent residency card every 5 years. This process takes a couple weeks and costs about $50. Our lives here are similar to how it was in Texas. It’s just a lot less stressful as we’re retired and don’t have to deal with the stresses which comes with work. My weekly routines include tennis at my club (unfortunately, you have to be a member of a tennis club in order to play tennis here. You can also pay to play at public tennis courts, but the courts are limited and it’s on a first come first served basis), lifting weights, jogging, dining out with my wife and son, going to the theaters etc…We also take our annual family vacation during our son’s Summer break. My family and I have been living here for over 8 years. It’s one of the best decisions we’ve made, as it allowed me to retire at 45. If we stayed in the U.S., then I would have to work until I’m 60. I’m fortunate to have a government pension, which gave me the option to retire early. We have 1/6 as much money compared to when we’re both working, but it’s still enough to give us a very comfortable standard of living here. My example is applicable to any foreigner married to a Filipino citizen or who plans on marrying a Filipino citizen. If you’re coming here by yourself to retire, then you can apply for a Special Resident Retirees Visa (SRRV) The Philippines will allow Americans and foreigners from all around the world to reside there, if they meet the requirements for the SRRV. Foreigners are allowed to buy condominiums with no more than 40% foreign ownership. Foreigners are not allowed to buy houses. The requirements according to the Philippine Retirement Authority are: SRRV Smile option: For active/ healthy retirees who chooses to maintain a deposit of at least $20,000 in an accredited Filipino bank.SRRV Classic option: For active/ healthy retirees who chose to use their deposit to purchase condominiums, then these investments will meet the deposit requirements. The value of the condominium must be at least $50,000.The application fees for these SRR Visas are $1,400 per applicant and $300 for each dependent applicant. There’s also an annual check in fee of $360 for the principal + 2 dependents. For further information and confirmation of the Philippines’ Special Resident Retiree’s Visa, I would recommend that you contact the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine Retirement Authority. We sold or gave away appliances, electronics, furniture and other items we won’t usÔng in the Philippines. We sent most of our stuff to the Philippines via balikbayan boxes. Our balikbayan boxes were shipped to my mother-in-law’s house. You can ship most non perishable items via these boxes. It’s fine as long as they fit inside a cardboard box with dimensions of 60″ or less. It costs about $90 per box to ship them from Texas. They will charge an additional $5 for every inch over the 60″ total dimension. We sent about 45 of these boxes over. You can also send your stuff over in these shipping containers, but I’m not familiar with this process.
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Assuming you already have a legal right to stay in the Philippines and have a place setup already to retire in, I mean a physical address. Look for a shipping broker in your location and inquire. There is also a company called Asia Relocation with the link below. They do international relocation services. You can reach them and inquire. They do services for consulates/embassies and expatriates. Asia Relocation – Worldwide Mobility: Moving – Storage – Relocation