Hey guys
Looks like my comfortable government job here in Australia's winding down with the state govt privatising everything, and the last thing I want to do is have to get a real job where they'll actually make me work, so I'm looking at early retirement in Phils. I figure that when they finally shut up shop they'll have to pay out my long service leave etc and give me a voluntary redundancy package. After that if I sell up the house here, pay out the mortgage, sell up pretty much everything else and get rid of my leased car I'll end up with about AU$250,000-300,000 in hand. I'm only 49 now and not eligable for any sort of pension etc so my plan is to buy a few (3 or 4) condos in Manila someplace (Makati maybe?) and rent them out for income while living with my pinay girl (who already owns her own house) rent free (probably in Dasmarinas), so I'm trying to work out the best way of achieving this and would appreciate any thoughts.
The way I see if I have 4 visa options....
1: Come in with a visitor visa, do extensions as much as possible, and leave the country once a year on a visa run. (Inconvenient and dodgy)
or
2. Apply for an SRRV retirement visa and use the purchase of the first condo as the financial part of it. ($1400 expense up front but otherwise simple and reliable)
or
3. Marry my girl, take her out of the country once a year and keep entering under a balikbayan visa. (Inconvenient, dodgy, relies on customs officials granting renewals)
or
4. Marry my girl and live there under a 13a residency visa. (Cheap, easy, and cheerful, but relies on us not breaking up)
I don't want to do numbers 1 or 3 because they rely on me always having the money & health etc to travel, there's lots of renewals and extensions involved, and if I forget and miss a date I potentially get deported. I don't mind doing number 4 and it's the cheapest and easiest option, but it does put my ability to stay in Phils in the hands of my girl, and if I get caught playing up or something it leaves me very vulnerable. Also I'm not sure what happens to my residency if she dies first (for example if she gets his by a jeepney or something - she's a complete klutz and nearly gets knocked over by something at least once a week!). So that leave the SRRV visa - the more expensive option with the $1400 application figure but also the safest one since as long as I own at least one condo and pay my $10/year or whatever it is renewal fee I retain my residency without relying on anyone else's good graces. It also means that should the worst happen and I break up with my girl I can still stay in Phils living in one of my own condos rather than trying to sell everything up and move back to Australia.
Another question (and the reason for the title of this thread) is - can I bring my motorbike with me? It's a 2004 Triumph America and I'm very fond of it and there's no way I can buy anything like it in Phils for a reasonable price. I'm aware that I can import up to US$7000 of personal effects tax free, but I don't know if that includes motorbikes, and I don't know how much they'll value my bike at. I rang the PRA office's numbers and got no answer on any of them, I rang the Philippines Embassy in Australia who gave me the number of the customs office in Manila, which is apparently disconnected (maybe they didn't pay their bill? :-P ) and I can't find anything about it online. So my question is, does the $7000 personal effects thing cover vehicles? Is there any allowance for a retiree to bring a vehicle separate to the personal effects thing? If not, what sort of taxes do I have to pay and how do they value a bike? I'd really love to bring it as I hate riding those tiny motobikes that litter south east asia.
