General Info

[QUOTE=KenjiYoshioka;2949905]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Dg8787;2949995]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![/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950207]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950655]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950655]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Aml3740;2950659]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=KenjiYoshioka;2950073]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950655]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.[/QUOTE]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.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2950724]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.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I was just after a rough indication. I'm not looking to pick up any specific bills of the girls. Just wanted to know the impact of 1500 p. It seems it would be a significant help to the month's finances espnif she's in a provincial college

Cheers. G.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950655]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.[/QUOTE]I have first hand knowledge about this, my GF was paying 40 k / semester at the university of cebu, plus boarding, food and transportation, all that adds up, then once graduated there are all kind of accreditation exams, and board exams, and they all cost money and some require additional courses. I met her when she was graduated already, but I wanted to know all about it. Some years ago I met a pharmacy student and she was paying 38 k / semester in manila.

[QUOTE=OldAndUgly;2950849]I have first hand knowledge about this, my GF was paying 40 k / semester at the university of cebu, plus boarding, food and transportation, all that adds up, then once graduated there are all kind of accreditation exams, and board exams, and they all cost money and some require additional courses. I met her when she was graduated already, but I wanted to know all about it. Some years ago I met a pharmacy student and she was paying 38 k / semester in manila.[/QUOTE]80 K Pesos an year for studies is manageable for folks in the US to sponsor someone to school (and it may be a good thing for thr world). Its a cost of SBUX coffee every day for folks in the US. Not big. My problem with these folks are two fold (a) they never show their school invoice and (b) more importantly would never allow you to pay them online. I do sponsor some kids education in some countries. One of the girls I sponsored is from India (since I am of indian origin) -- her mom works as a domestic help to one of my aunts in India. Every semester, the girl would send me her invoice, and ask me to log into her college account to pay her fees. She would reset her password after I paid. I could see all her transcripts. She had failed in english in one of the semesters, and I asked my aunt to get her an english tuition that I paid. Would prefer if these girls show that level of transparency. Lack of such transparency, its a game these girls play to extract money in creative ways.

[QUOTE=WestCoast1;2950718]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.[/QUOTE]This sounds like a pretty good strategy. From what I've gleaned from Google Fu, it seems that most of the BI offices in the provinces open at 9. I imagine it will be similarly empty around then, just 90 minutes later.

Thanks, Westie.

Tuition runs from 32 k-52 k a semester depending upon the major and location. A tourism degree is around 32 k while a nursing degree in Cebu is 52 k. Additional costs for projects and other assignments.

Monthly living costs range from 10 k-16 k a month depending upon dorm room and transportation costs. Food costs is probably the same in each location. Some dorms cost less but are further away thereby increasing the transportation cost. Some dorms costs more but are within walking distance.

[QUOTE=Goferring;2950655]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.[/QUOTE]I had a girl recently who wanted to meet to pay fees. She is studying criminology in Manila. This is the semester fees. It does not include other ancillaries just Tuition.

[QUOTE=GDreams;2951001]I had a girl recently who wanted to meet to pay fees. She is studying criminology in Manila. This is the semester fees. It does not include other ancillaries just Tuition.[/QUOTE]That looks like a local community college tuition. Still need to add in room and board.