LSVVE Long Term visa Philippines

[JonnyStekkino]

Anyone had experience extensing the long term visa (LSVVE) in the philippines, seems that can be extended up to 36 months? and what about the taxation part?

 

[Mike Forman]

You can extend your tourist visa up to 3 years in the Philippines. Just need to go to bureau of immigration and pay for the extension which can be 1,2 or 6 months. You need to renew also your ACR-I card annually.

You can't open a bank account nonetheless with that.

As long as you don't work in Philippines for a local corporation you don't need to pay tax in Philippines since you are a tourist (not allowed to work in Philippines, though remote work for foreign company they don't care). You will normally still have to pay tax in your country of residence/citizenship.

 

[Juleski70]

You can't open a bank account nonetheless with that.

This seems to be a case-by-case/branch-by-branch thing; I have heard reports of people on tourist visa successfully opening a bank account, and other stories of them not succeeding. Seems to be more likely if you are not a US citizen.
For what it's worth, I don't have a bank account and get by on a GCash account (the local e-wallet — max' 50,000 pesos balance, 100,000 pesos/month transactions) and then use Wise to deposit/transfer my native currency into GCash, and a GCash card to get cash out of the ATM. But it's too limited if, say, I was trying to build a house or do something capital intensive.

and what about the taxation part?

The Philippines has pretty clear policies that — unlike most countries — you can stay there a very long time and NOT become a tax resident. They don't care about your foreign income, and are happy to simply have you spend your $ in their country.
What they don't like is when you take a job or open a local business… anything that could be interpreted as competing with Filipinos in the domestic marketplace. I even heard about a foreigner who volunteered to play piano in a hotel lounge for free — he'd still be providing value to the hotel that they ought to be paying a filipino to do, so it was considered too much of a gray area for the hotel to accept.

You can extend your tourist visa up to 3 years in the Philippines.

And then you can get on a plane, have lunch in Singapore or Ho Chi Minh or wherever you like, fly back and you're reset to day zero, and can spend another 36 months. I know guys who have been here almost 10 years on Tourist visas.

 

[backpacker]

This seems to be a case-by-case/branch-by-branch thing; I have heard reports of people on tourist visa successfully opening a bank account, and other stories of them not succeeding. Seems to be more likely if you are not a US citizen.

Indeed, there are still branch managers who do that. However, once your first SWIFT transfer arrives (four digits are enough for that), your case will be reviewed by the banks headquarter and -rest assured- closed.
BSP has become quite strict in recent years and foreigners without proper residence status (that must not necessarily be permanent but should at least be something different than Balikbayan- or tourist-visa) will not have fun with auch an account.

And then you can get on a plane, have lunch in Singapore or Ho Chi Minh or wherever you like, fly back and you're reset to day zero, and can spend another 36 months. I know guys who have been here almost 10 years on Tourist visas.

Depends how old you are. If considered a senior from a Western country, this still works.
If still "working age" it doesn't anymore.

As long as you don't work in Philippines for a local corporation you don't need to pay tax in Philippines since you are a tourist (not allowed to work in Philippines, though remote work for foreign company they don't care).

This is unfortunately no longer the case (and was never legal).
If you work in the Philippines you have to pay taxes, even as a tourist. You will also have withholding tax deducted if you are a non-resident. The distinguishment has been abolished with the TRAIN law.
And rest assured that they will care once the delinquent gets caught.

After all the mess our gorgeous Chinese friends created in this country, even the Philippines government was forced to act. So, the good old (easy) days in PH are gone.
Just read about the Desaster with PAGCOR/POGO. As a foreigner you are always under suspicion in this country! And you do not want to spend your days/months/years in the BoI Bicutan Detention Centre.

 

[Juleski70]

However, once your first SWIFT transfer arrives (four digits are enough for that), your case will be reviewed by the banks headquarter and -rest assured- closed.

Do you know if this is specific to Americans? (FATCA, not CRS)
I'm Canadian but haven't tried opening an account yet. Most expats complaining on the FB groups about bank accounts seem to be American

If considered a senior from a Western country, this still works.
If still "working age" it doesn't anymore.

I have a 40-something year old friend who doesn't seem to have any issues. But to be fair, he doesn't just go to Singapore for lunch once every 3 years... Like me (most expats?), he travels more than once every 3 years.

 

[backpacker]

Do you know if this is specific to Americans? (FATCA, not CRS)

Certain countries are now viewed more carefully. Most prominently PR China, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia.
When your money arrives from USA or other Western nations, nobody bothers up to the official limit of equivalent PHP400k (AML) / PHP500k (BSP declaration).
However, if for a non-resident account the threshold is automatically lower because SWIFT transfers are nowadays controlled by the bank's headquarter.

I have a 40-something year old friend who doesn't seem to have any issues. But to be fair, he doesn't just go to Singapore for lunch once every 3 years...

Even if he stays out of the country for longer than a Bak Kut Teh, he has a goddamn chance of having problems. He would be well advised to start looking for a practical solution.