Permanent Residency In The Philippines

The following comment was sent in by one of our readers who sort advice after reading our story What Value Is A Permantent Visa? unfortunately the advice is not very good so we will try to clear it up for him:

[Reader] Do holders of SRRV have to pay the travel tax and the Immigration charge when leaving/entering P.?I.

[Advisor] No, that is incorrect information. SRRV holders are exempt from any fees except the mandatory airport tax of P750.00.

[The Subic Bulletin] Nothing in our story mentioned the SRRV, we talk about Legal Resident or also called Permanent Resident, this is not just for retirees but the majority of residents who hold a 13 or 13(a) Visa. The SRRV does not pay immigration charges but the SRRV is more of a marketing visa than the traditional Visa so there are some differences like for example the holder of an SRRV cannot work in the Philippines.

[Reader] All in can remember is paying an Airport tax when leaving the country, but it wasn't P1650.

[Adviser] He is referring to TRAVEL TAX, again, SRRV holders are exempt from travel tax, providing they leave once a year. If they don't avail of departure annually, they are required to pay this tax (as per Bureau of Immigration regulations)

[The Subic Bulletin] Your adviser is correct that if the SRRV holder (who cannot earn an income in the Philippines) is traveling regularly they wont pay the tax, however, we don't know that many retirees that travel every year so in many cases they will still end up paying the tax. It is P1,650 additional to the Airport Fee which varies from airport to airport.

[Reader] Is this something new?

[Adviser] no it isn't.. I don't know where he comes up with 2170 Immigration charges ...the only other fees that he might be referring to, could be IF he is on a tourist visa and overstayed his 59 day deadline.
Please note he refers to "legal residents" A tourist visa is NOT defined as a "resident"..The ACR-I card, SSWV, SIRV, SSIV or a SRRV, provides "residency status" then there are various regulations for differentiations between temporary resident and permanent resident, which I won't get into at the moment. Suggest you submit a post to Bulletin for benefit of SRRV holders.

It is most unfortunate that incorrect information such as some postings on the Bulletin will be taken as gospel. While semi-complicated, these issues are easy to check out with BI Olongapo and clearly spelled out on the BI website..www.immigration.gov.ph

[The Subic Bulletin] Clearly your adviser should take their own advice and review the Immigration website, there they will find information about residency and a list of fees payable by permanent residents (13 and 13a visa holders specifically) when departing the country.
See this link:
http://immigration.gov.ph//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=205&Itemid=5