32
As noted in one of the comments, your fine could be as much as 300,000 Philippine pesos, which is about $6300 at the moment. Being unable to pay, particularly given your very lengthy overstay, will probably result in a significant prison term, and/or stay in an immigration detention center, neither of which are a place you want to be.
Bottom line, you need ...
30
It is allowed. Booking a hotel for the night gives the obligation to pay for it, not to use it.
If the people of the dormitory are the caring kind they might worry something happened to you, but you can easily explain to them that you are sleeping elsewhere.
You can even return for breakfast.
As mentioned in the comments your hotel may be required to ...
28
There's an online site liveinthephilippines that covers this:
If you have overstayed, and go to the airport to leave, they will
catch you, there is no way around it. What happens if you don’t have
the money to pay the fines that are due? Well, if you can’t pay they
still won’t let you leave, but they also will not release you. No,
they have a ...
25
Don't worry! Full middle names are never required on flight tickets, and even the initials are usually not needed. As long as the rest of the name and the initials match the passport, she will be fine.
18
To answer your questions, starting with your last one:
Losing and retaining/reacquiring Philippine Citizenship
Per Philippine Commonwealth Act. no. 63 (section 1, paragraph 1), you automatically lost Philippine citizenship when you became Australian (the quote is from Lawphil.net):
Section 1. How citizenship may be lost. – A Filipino citizen may lose ...
18
The traveller owns the responsibility for ensuring they have all relevant valid travel documents or ability to transit or enter into countries, either their destination or any transit stop along the way.
Airlines have no liability to the passenger for ensuring their documents are valid, or whether they actually have the ability to enter the destination ...
17
Yes. Six-month rules do not apply to people who are traveling to the country of citizenship.
No. You can even renew your passport after it expires.
The Schengen area has a six-month rule for short-term visitors. It does not apply to residence permit holders. You will not have trouble traveling within the Schengen area starting in October.
You could renew ...
12
Actually, you can ask the US Embassy for help. The consul will write a letter to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration. They will let you out, the consequence would then be going back. Because they will put you in the Blacklist and you won't be allowed to enter the Philippines unless you pay the fine. This happened to me so I know. If there is no ...
11
It depends on who you ask, basically.
The latest report I can find states that it's "safe to drink - for now".
The water quality is managed by The Manila Water Company, and they do monthly checks of over 1000 samples.
However, it's also worth noting the article points out that during rainy season, the risk of contamination is higher from pipes being ...
11
It's called Ninoy Aquino International Airport because that's it's name, it was renamed on August 17, 1987 with
the intention of honouring Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., who was assassinated at the airport after returning to the Philippines from his self-imposed exile in the United States on August 21, 1983.
(From Wikipedia)
To your actual question, ...
11
Toilet seat theft is a common and real problem in the Philippines. One of the major reasons listed for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 being voted the worst in the world to sleep in is toilet seat theft.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/235691/money/economy/naia-voted-world-s-worst-airport
People list Manila as having the same ...
11
While a lot of people will say this is probably fine — and it probably is fine — I would definitely not do it myself, because given the difference between "probably" and "definitely" here could in the worst case be as dramatic as setting fire to the building or getting a bad electric shock.
Travel adaptors are often dodgy enough as it is, especially the ...
11
There is no one solution for this. Some suggestions...
Irish pubs.
Quiz nights.
Walking tours.
Hash House Harriers.
Toastmasters.
Internations.
Critical Mass.
@Taladris' answer made me realise there are more:
Alliance Française.
Goethe Institut.
British Council.
Here are two more that I often check for:
Gallery openings.
Facebook events (with an ...
11
Virtually any country or city with a foreign community also has an expat forum online, and these often organize social get-togethers. I'm not familiar with the Philippines expat scene, but googling "philippines expats forum" returns a whole slew of results, and there's at least one forum dedicated for just Cebu as well.
10
The British Embassy or UK Foreign Office can't help you here, this is an internal matter in the Philippines. Fortunately, Tuguegarao is the capital of the province of Cagayan, so it has a Bureau of Immigration office (map). Given the circumstances, they should be able to arrange a visa extension or at least provide advice on what to do.
IMHO your best bet ...
10
The Bureau of Immigration has now released the below statement. After speaking with them, they have confirmed that once the restrictions (Enhanced Community Quarantine) are lifted and the offices are open as normal again, the visa can be extended with no additional charge. That is, provided the request to extend it is received within 30 days of the ...
9
In general I would always arrive in a country with a least a little local currency (if it's legal to do so, which it isn't always but is in the Philippines). There's been a couple of times I've been close to stranded on arrival because I didn't. You probably need money to get from the airport (unless you've pre-arranged transport), and exchanging money in ...
9
Let me answer my own question. I just got back from the trip and I found out that motorbike rental shops are abundant in Philippines (but usually not advertised online) . The price is usually about 600PHP (12 USD) for one day.
Even in rural places where there are no renting businesses it is easy to arrange for a rental with locals.
I rented 6 different ...
8
Firstly, look on your laptop's power unit/base/charger. Usually the fine print will give you a range - e.g. Rated input AC100-240V or something similar.
If it matches the range required, then no power converter is required for you to be able to use it there.
So, then it's down to the adapter (plug) and the voltage in the Philippines. You can use this ...
8
Wikipedia has some pretty extensive information about power standards around the world. According to this information, the Philippines uses types A, B, and C plugs:
However, it operates at 220V, 60Hz. The US uses 120V 60Hz. So while your US plugs (Type A & B) will physically fit into the sockets in the Philippines, you need to be sure your devices ...
8
Definitely not true. A U.S. passport is enough.
8
This is the kind of question is often answerable by looking at the travel advice of a few Western countries. That is exactly what those advisories are for. Usually those tend to warn for likely and even not very likely safety troubles that you might encounter.
If I look for example at the UK travel advice, there is no warning that tourists have been caught ...
8
This answer is going to focus on going to Manila for business, which is pretty different to going to Cebu on a beach holiday!
The single most useful tip I can give is to choose your hotel's location to minimise distance to the office. Traffic is Manila is appalling and it can take hours to travel short distances, particularly when it rains - I spent over ...
7
The short answer is none. The brunt of Haiyan's impact was on the islands of Leyte and Samar, neither of which is really a tourist destination. Cebu, which is, only sustained relatively minor damage, and places outside the Visayas like Manila and Palawan came through virtually unscathed.
7
The rules are different in every country and every airport, but in general, you will not go through an immigration check when flying domestically within a single country. You will generally go through an immigration check when flying internationally in to a country, with some exceptions, namely when flying between countries that are part of the Schengen Area ...
7
First, you must be sure that your sponsor is legitimate. The Philippine government put that process in place because a lot of pinoys have been tricked into slavery or prostitution in foreign countries by sponsors who appear to be trustworthy.
If your sponsor is someone you know well and who has visited you in Philippines, then you should know enough about ...
7
Per Philippine customs regulations, returning contract workers who have been overseas for over 6 months can bring back "used personal effects up to value of PHP 10,000.-" duty free. Since this is only about US$200, it is highly likely that your jewelry is worth more than this, and you will need to pay large Customs duties and potentially also face ...
7
UPDATE: So, I spoke to an immigration officer and they said because I have an Identification certificate that recognizes me as a Filipino citizen, I can stay here in the Philippines regardless of me bringing a Japanese passport. I could have paid an overstaying fee of Php 30,000 per year if not for my Identification Certificate. I don't need an exit ...
6
Later model Dell laptops have power supplies rated 110 - 240V, so you won't need a converter since power in the Philippines is 220V but the plug may not match, which means that you may need a power plug adapter like this one to be able to plug it in.
I would though check the Power Supply as to actual power ratings.
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