Actually this happened to us, upon arriving to Manila with my Filipina wife. When she asked the imigration official for the balikbayan stamp for us she was told that there would be no more Balikbayan program. It was no big deal for us since we were only staying 25 day and got an extention but we wanted to test the system to see if we could get the stamp for future trips.. But I can see where it would be a big deal to others. It would be nice to get the official word on this. We arrive in manila in Aug of 2007.. Art B
----- Original Message ----
From: Jack Bishop <graywolfgraphics@
To: LivingInThePhilippi
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 12:12:27 PM
Subject: [LinP3] Re: No more balikbayan visas?
I believe your wife's lawyer, who knows "someone on the inside from
the Bureau of Immigration" is wrong. Most likely the "someone on the
inside" is a janitor who heard someone complain about not being able
to get a balikbayan stamp (NOT a visa)in their passport and "assumed"
they were going to cease and desist henceforth.
Pure babble, my friend. If they ceased issuing a balikbayan stamp for
returning Filipino's spouses this would have a detrimental effect on
the tourist industry in the RP.
Also I believe it would take a Presidential decree or a new law and it
would not be within the power of the Bureau of Immigration to rescind
the rules as they apply now.
There is no way that I know of for you to "renew" your balikbayan
stamp in your passport. This is something you receive in your
passport when you arrive at the customs desk in the airport. I think
you are getting confused.
Jack
PS Who is this attorney? We may want to note his name for future
reference. If he believes all the rumors he hears from "someone",
perhaps you will want to shop for a new, more qualified attorney.
Just my humble opinion.
--- In LivingInThePhilippi nes3@yahoogroups .com, "shadownseiko"
<shadownseiko@ ...> wrote:
>
> This rings of fabrication and misleading information, which is not
> unusual.
>
> Larry in Dumaguete
>
>
> --- In LivingInThePhilippi nes3@yahoogroups .com, "Tim Robertson"
> <tcrephrata@ > wrote:
> >
> > My wife was told by her lawyer who knows someone on the inside from
> > the Bureau of Immigration, that they will no longer be issuing
> > balikbayan visas from December 2007 onwards. Has anyone of you
> > seeking a balikbayan stamp recently encountered a problem upon
> arrival
> > at the airport?
> >
> > My wife, who was born in the US but with Filipino parentage, is
> having
> > trouble renewing her old Filipino passport(obtained when she was 2
> > years old). Apparently, there is no record of her birth in the
> > National Statistics Office here. This means that the Philippine
> > consulate in New York most likely lost their 1960s records. We
> hired a
> > lawyer to follow up her papers in the Department of Foreign
> Affairs.
> > Almost a year has gone and still no progress.
> >
> > Thus, we have to renew our balikbayan visas soon. If this piece of
> > news is true, then we have to obtain tourist visas, pay fees etc..
> > Does anyone have any news?
> >
>
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