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[WestCoast1]

Has anyone seen any recent school fees? I'm just wondering out aloud how much they actually are and how much assistance a 1500 peso contribution actually is.

One girl mentioned 40 k for studying a real degree in a respected university. I have no idea how long that was for. I'm assuming a year? She also pays 2200 per month for her two bed boarding room.

G.

Hard to answer this. Each school has different fees. You can contact the school and ask them their fee schedules. There are also exam fees and project fees, uniforms must be purchased, and so on. Regardless of the school's semester or annual fee, these other items such as test and project fees are additional, and a p1500 contribution in the province is considerable. Its also possible that your contribution might be for bola reasons: She might not need it for what she says, and she will end up throwing a booze-filled weekend with friends or her boyfie, showing up at Monday's class with a hangover.

One of my girls in Manila has a son in private school, at p32,000 per month. Your girl's 40 k might be per semester, or per year.

The rent sounds a bit high in the province, but not out of bounds.

[WestCoast1]

This to me is proof that the best "fixing" is the kind you do yourself with a little genuine forethought and charisma. I think it's one thing if you live in the PI and can afford to go to the embassy if a "fixer" accidentally "loses" your passport or something fishy along those lines, but if you're just bouncing around for a few months and have obligations to go to back home then you can't afford unexpected delays. That being said, I'd very much rather spend 1 k php than spend all day in lines. That time could be spent screwing the tits off hot girls instead; this is the PI after all.

Government offices open at 7:30 am. I like to go to the BI at that time, because there is no line (except for the Intramuros BI office). For about 30 minutes, you have the run of the place. It can't get much easier. To be fair to timeframe, you have 2 choices at the BI office when extending. The first choice is to leave your PP with the BI office for 3 business days, then return to pick up the PP and extension; cost is about p2000. Second choice is to check on the application form 'Express 1-hour', which costs p1000 more, to get yours processed in 1 hour. You either return an hour later to get it, or just wait until they call your name if its completed early. When I am the only person in the office at 7:40 am, I am usually out the door by 8 am*.

OTOH, DG's example, he found the fixer by luck. In your case, the fixer can come to you on a motorcycle in the morning, and return your extension and PP to you for the exact same fee as if you walked into his office. Fixers work for / with travel agents. You contact most any travel agent in a mall and they can direct you to agents who do the 'fixer' work for you. Have any of you gents heard of an agency losing a PP?

* Caveat. Have had this odd situation happen before, once at Intramuros (covid), and once in the province. In both instances, the various BI officers handle the paperwork (intake officer, cashier, processing officer, etc), and the extension was issued with receipt and inserted in the back of my PP and set aside with the final officer. I watched it happen. It all happened in 15-20 minutes. I was the only one there. Then they waited, the last officer had it sitting on his / her desk. I walked over and looked at it, then sat down again. 45 or so minutes later: "Sir Coast? West Coast?" I walked over and they handed it to me. They made me wait the full hour. Still searching my mind why they would do that, but I was just a guest. Some small good news: If you use the Intramuros BI office, there is a Starbucks across the street.

[Goferring]

What city is she studying? In province, a boarding house is about 700-1 k per month. In Manila region, a basic boarding house is about 1. 5 k monthly plus electric and water. This is usually done per room, and with shared bathroom. Many times you will have more than one person come in and share a room.

As far as university cost, it depends if it is public or private and what major area she is studying. Public university can be free if you're in scholarship up to about 20 k yearly. Private can be significantly more expensive than public, in the range of 50-100 k yearly.

My stepdaughter is looking at universities now, so these are the current prices we have gotten.

Thanks. That basically meshes up with what I was expecting.

The girl I mentioned is in CDO. She did say that room costs vary wildly depending on how many beds and features included. A powered kitchen / AC makes a significant difference.

Cheers. G.

[D Cups]

Has anyone seen any recent school fees? I'm just wondering out aloud how much they actually are and how much assistance a 1500 peso contribution actually is.

One girl mentioned 40 k for studying a real degree in a respected university. I have no idea how long that was for. I'm assuming a year? She also pays 2200 per month for her two bed boarding room.

G.

Hi G, I pay my student helper's tuition basically 3500 p / month in exchange for her cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping and anything else that has a long line. She has her own room and CR. Sometimes she has other expenses but it is not very much. I trust her.

[Aml3740]

Has anyone seen any recent school fees? I'm just wondering out aloud how much they actually are and how much assistance a 1500 peso contribution actually is.

One girl mentioned 40 k for studying a real degree in a respected university. I have no idea how long that was for. I'm assuming a year? She also pays 2200 per month for her two bed boarding room.

G.

What city is she studying? In province, a boarding house is about 700-1 k per month. In Manila region, a basic boarding house is about 1. 5 k monthly plus electric and water. This is usually done per room, and with shared bathroom. Many times you will have more than one person come in and share a room.

As far as university cost, it depends if it is public or private and what major area she is studying. Public university can be free if you're in scholarship up to about 20 k yearly. Private can be significantly more expensive than public, in the range of 50-100 k yearly.

My stepdaughter is looking at universities now, so these are the current prices we have gotten.

[Goferring]

Then the fateful statement: she's just left school "because of financial". Gotcha. If we have some fun for the afternoon, then I'm happy to help you out.

Has anyone seen any recent school fees? I'm just wondering out aloud how much they actually are and how much assistance a 1500 peso contribution actually is.

One girl mentioned 40 k for studying a real degree in a respected university. I have no idea how long that was for. I'm assuming a year? She also pays 2200 per month for her two bed boarding room.

G.

[KenjiYoshioka]

No offense taken. I personally had the fixer shop do my extension a few months ago and had no problems with them. It was done in 90 minutes.

Years ago I was in Davao and passed by the small BI office. Instead of getting my extension later in Manila I turned around and went back the Davao BI. It was hot and I stopped and got a bottled water before I entered the BI. Outside was a security guard who looked very thirsty so I gave him the water. He was so happy that he walked me into the building, gave me a form to fill out and then took me to the front of line claiming I was a senior with priority. Then took me over to the cashier to pay and then had me sit and wait. 10 minutes later I had my extension was on my way. All in about 20 minutes there!

This to me is proof that the best "fixing" is the kind you do yourself with a little genuine forethought and charisma. I think it's one thing if you live in the PI and can afford to go to the embassy if a "fixer" accidentally "loses" your passport or something fishy along those lines, but if you're just bouncing around for a few months and have obligations to go to back home then you can't afford unexpected delays. That being said, I'd very much rather spend 1 k php than spend all day in lines. That time could be spent screwing the tits off hot girls instead; this is the PI after all.

[Dg8787]

There are 3 offices in Manila, one in Cebu, and one in Davao. I'm planning on going to all of those. But I'd still rather get it taken care of at the airport. Of course it's always also an option to get it taken care of at the consulate stateside first, which I am currently looking into. All the Philippines government websites are terribly shoddily run. There are broken links everywhere and lots of dead ends, kinda like doing business in the PI.

No offense, DG, but I don't trust "fixer" shops. I'm not trying to get stuck in the PI without my passport.

BTW, the fixer at Marquee Mall has a permanent store front office there. They aren't going anywhere with your passport.

I had actually walked passed them and into the BI to do it myself. The bi personel were missing and about 20 people waiting around there. I wondered around to see where the starting point was and noticed a person walking by me holding a stack of 20 passports with a sheet of paper in between each one. I observed him going into a private office. At first I thought he was a BI personel then I realized he was a fixer. Then fixer was getting 20 passports done while there was no one helping the 20 waiting in the office.

That's when I remembered walking by the fixer and I headed back to him. After a few questions I realized the fixer had a professional relationship with the BI and could get it done faster. I highly recommend them if your time is worth 1 k.

[Dg8787]

There are 3 offices in Manila, one in Cebu, and one in Davao. I'm planning on going to all of those. But I'd still rather get it taken care of at the airport. Of course it's always also an option to get it taken care of at the consulate stateside first, which I am currently looking into. All the Philippines government websites are terribly shoddily run. There are broken links everywhere and lots of dead ends, kinda like doing business in the PI.

No offense, DG, but I don't trust "fixer" shops. I'm not trying to get stuck in the PI without my passport.

No offense taken. I personally had the fixer shop do my extension a few months ago and had no problems with them. It was done in 90 minutes.

Years ago I was in Davao and passed by the small BI office. Instead of getting my extension later in Manila I turned around and went back the Davao BI. It was hot and I stopped and got a bottled water before I entered the BI. Outside was a security guard who looked very thirsty so I gave him the water. He was so happy that he walked me into the building, gave me a form to fill out and then took me to the front of line claiming I was a senior with priority. Then took me over to the cashier to pay and then had me sit and wait. 10 minutes later I had my extension was on my way. All in about 20 minutes there!

[WestCoast1]

There are 3 offices in Manila, one in Cebu, and one in Davao. I'm planning on going to all of those. But I'd still rather get it taken care of at the airport. Of course it's always also an option to get it taken care of at the consulate stateside first, which I am currently looking into. All the Philippines government websites are terribly shoddily run. There are broken links everywhere and lots of dead ends, kinda like doing business in the PI.

There is a Makati office at the Ayala Circuit Mall, 5th floor, see pic. From Burgos, its about p120 in a taxi. That's the Pasig river along the top. Its about 2-ish blocks from the South cemetery. I like that particular office as its mostly designed for extenders, and rarely has a crowd of any kind (unlike the Intramuros BI). In fact, having been there several times, only once did I encounter another client such as myself. I also like the mall itself. Its large, open, clean, has a few decent restos, and an open-air food area good for having a coffee and watching the talent walk about.

https://mallsph.com/bureau-of-immigr...malls-circuit/

No offense, DG, but I don't trust "fixer" shops. I'm not trying to get stuck in the PI without my passport.

Don't necessarily count the fixers out. If you see them in any BI office, they are wearing a special purple jacket, indicating that they are bonded / certified to carry your PP and money around. I have chatted up two of them, one at Intramuros and one at Circuit mall. The process is simple. You contact their company. They show up at your door in the morning. You hand over your PP and tell them what you want. They fill in the form for you (its easy), and they collect from you the exact BI fee required + p1000 (their fee). They return your completed extension receipt and PP in the afternoon to you.

They have their own special lane at the BI, they get quick treatment, and it will take them about 1/3 of the time to complete your task than it will take you. You must go to several different windows: fetching the form, dropping your PP with an officer, paying your fees at a different window, returning to the officer to show your receipt, then waiting at least an hour for them to process. Then you get called to yet another window to pick up your PP and extension. The fixer simply drops off a bunch of PPs to one officer and then sits down. That officer and another separate the PPs, one counts money and issues the receipt, the other does the background check and issues the extensions. 15 minutes while the fixer sits. Then the fixer spends 5 minutes going thru each PP and extension to see if there were any problems. Then he's on his way back to customers condos / hotels to return the goods.

Now that I live here, I have plenty of time and find it easy to handle BI office tasks myself. But when I was a 2-week warrior, it was much better to spend the day perving at LA Cafe, as opposed to wading thru grunt paperwork at a BI office.

[KenjiYoshioka]

There's a 24 hour BI office at Clark. There's literally a complaint on google reviews that the "officers" there ripped someone off for 120 php by pretending they didn't have change. Imagine being pissed off about $2. 13 in a country that rife with corruption. I'd just consider it a "tip" and move on. What is he going to do with 120 php anyway, buy a yacht?

[KenjiYoshioka]

True and I've found the smaller offices extremely easy to deal with. Walk in, pay your money and walk out. Certainly no need for extensive forms, queues or fixers. I don't know where Kenji is going but if there isn't a BI desk at CRK airport, it would be an option.

G.

There are 3 offices in Manila, one in Cebu, and one in Davao. I'm planning on going to all of those. But I'd still rather get it taken care of at the airport. Of course it's always also an option to get it taken care of at the consulate stateside first, which I am currently looking into. All the Philippines government websites are terribly shoddily run. There are broken links everywhere and lots of dead ends, kinda like doing business in the PI.

No offense, DG, but I don't trust "fixer" shops. I'm not trying to get stuck in the PI without my passport.

[Goferring]

BI is all over in Philippines. Just search online.

True and I've found the smaller offices extremely easy to deal with. Walk in, pay your money and walk out. Certainly no need for extensive forms, queues or fixers. I don't know where Kenji is going but if there isn't a BI desk at CRK airport, it would be an option.

G.

[Dg8787]

I greatly appreciate all the feedback and nudges in the right direction. I think I'm actually going to make an effort to buy some beers when I'm in the islands. I have one question though.

Is this BI office only at NAIA? I was hoping to fly into and possibly out of Clark.

BI is all over in Philippines. Just search online.

There is a BI office in MarQuee Mall in Angeles. Takes a few hours for an extension. Drop it over and do some shopping and have lunch. There is a fixer shop to the right just before the BI, he charges 1 k and gets it done faster and fills out all the forms for you. You don't have to wait in a line.

[KenjiYoshioka]

I greatly appreciate all the feedback and nudges in the right direction. I think I'm actually going to make an effort to buy some beers when I'm in the islands. I have one question though.

He any anyone else can get the 30 day extension right at the airport on the day of arrival. Only available on the day of arrival. You cannot come back and do it days later.

Get the 29 days VOA at the normal booth after leaving the plane. Then find the BI Office in the terminal and they will extend it there and then. 3050 pesos and about 10 minutes.

G.

PS. Forgot to say you need to have pesos on hand to pay for it. ATMs nearby but peso cash is the only acceptable method of payment.

Is this BI office only at NAIA? I was hoping to fly into and possibly out of Clark.