Retired foreigners can secure unlimited stay in PH for P1 million—PRA
Foreigners who wish to retire in the Philippines can do so as long as they pay the $20,000 (P1 million) fee needed for a non-immigrant visa.
The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) explained this after Senator Loren Legarda asked them to review its visa process after concerns were raised about foreigners using visas for illegal activities.
During the committee hearing on the Department of Tourism (DOT), PRA general manager Roberto Zozobrado said that foreigners receiving an $800 (P46,185) to $1,200 (P69,277) pension are required to deposit $10,000 (P577,315).
On the other hand, former Filipino citizens or those from multinational organizations should pay $1,500 (P86,604).
"That's all that they need. It's a non-immigrant visa that they get and they can stay for as long as they want. The benefit they get is they can enter and exit out of the country," Zozobrado said.
Legarda expressed concern about the low cost of obtaining a retirement visa, stating that it seemed too "cheap" for foreigners to retire in the Philippines for just over P1 million.
She highlighted the risk of syndicates taking advantage of the retirement visa program, drawing parallels to the past incidents where foreign criminals obtained fraudulent birth certificates through the loopholes in the late registration system.
"So that’s why there are criminal syndicates. For P1 million, they can stay legally in the Philippines? No wonder. I think this should be reviewed," the senator said.
However, Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Frasco reasoned that the affordable non-immigrant visa deal for foreign retirees is part of the "liberalization of issuance of long stay visas" in the ASEAN region.
Nevertheless, she acknowledged that this tourism policy should be "balanced" with the country’s "foreign policy" of protecting the "integrity and security of our nation."
According to the PRA, which is an attached agency of the DOT, at least 58,000 foreigners have retired in the Philippines since 1997. This number is comprised mostly of Chinese and South Korean nationals. (with reports from Marc Jayson Cayabyab)
