Visiting the philippines?

it is simple to extend your free 21 day tourist visa. ask the taxi driver in manila to take you to the bureau of immigration, near intramuros. inside, fill out the small 1 page form, photo copy your passport, etc.. come back in 1 hour, pay the small fee. you don't need to show your plane tickets.

OK lissen up pal, like every1 says, you automatically get 21 days being American. If you intend to stay longer than that, make your mind up in plenty of time as DFA there(Dept of Foreign Affairs ) goes 2 ways. Either help or hinder.Trust me.

If you go intending to stay a while make real sure you go to DFA at least 5 working days before the 21 day automatic visa expires. Go on the day or the one before and the clever dik behind the counter will give you all sorts of reasons about delays and this is simply to get you to fork over a months salary for him/her to do their job.Which is standard practise toward any foreigner. 5 days in advance or cop the run around with the threat there is not enough time to renew so you have to pay heaps more---got it?

Tickets---shmicket,s no-one asks ok?

You are a foreigner--of course you have a ticket--you are rich !!! Any foreigner is , trust me.

Last time I got a 21 day extended to 59 and going early, after about being there a week, I had no problems. I also knew the Govt price as on their website and that was handy as the guy wanted plenty more so when I said, Dong, the official price for this is P950 why do you ask for P2500 in a very loud voice he explained, Sorry Sir, I seem to have made a mistake.But if looks could kill....... Corruption is rife but only if quietly done so raise your voice and when EVERY1 knows what is going on and that you are not some loco-loco, all is well. Got it?

Have a great time and as a first timer the best advice I can give you is this.

Treat EVERY peso like a dollar or you will be broke real quick.Trust me.

And 1 other thing, someone said take copies of your passport to DFA--yeah, right.

You MUST produce the original. Getting something ''notarised'' in the PI is more painful than root canal and any un-notarised paper will get you nowhere. Trust me.Enjoy the San Miguel and Tanduay, stay away from the Red Horse if you want to stay sane and for gawds sake dont go anywhere near the Mary Jane or Shabu. Trust me.

If you want to stay longer than 1 year you can. After the one year as a balikbayan, you can convert to a tourist and stay for a further 16 months, so long as you pay the two monthly extension fees.

However, if you are not a former Filipino, as a US citizen, you can still enter the Philippines without a visa and stay for up to 16 months. On arrival, you will be granted a 21 day visa waiver, then you pay for a 38 day extension, after that, extensions are 2 months at a time until you have been in the Philippines for 16 months. You can read more about that at my website, here

If you wish to make changes on your booking, visit or call the Airlines Ticket Office. Penalties may apply depending on the conditions attached to the fare.

When you land here you get an automatic 21 visa. Before it expires go to ANY Philippine Bureau of Immigration to extend another 38 days then every 59 days up to about 18 months. Take your passport, copy of the info page, copy of the arrival page, your airplane ticket showing date of leaving or ongoing ticket, a Filipino friend & about 5,000 pesos. You will get the extension while you wait. As for your ticket if you do not know when you want to leave it might be best to get a ticket with a 2 week layover here & then on to Hong Kong that way you get off with your luggage here & forget about the rest of the trip buying a 1 way ticket back to your home. I used my ticket for 18 months AFTER it expired. They NEVER did look at the ticket! Check with your airline about changing your ticket.

You will receive a 21 day tourist visa upon arrival. It is easy to extend it at any B.I. Office or you can pay a travel agency to do it for you.

When you arrive you will need either a round trip or further on destination. What some people do is just buy a "trash ticket" to Singapore/H.K. After entry they won't ask to see a plane ticket when you extend. Only upon entry.