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Marriages to Filipinas

There are several queries in the past months about visas for foreigners in the Philippines not only because it is much cheaper for aliens to live here for longer periods but also because thousands of foreigners have married Filipinas. It seems that Filipinas are more attractive women and are better wife-material than women of western countries. I am not being racist here but only practical and truthful. Really, it is proven that Filipinas are more caring, sweeter and more sensitive to the needs of their husbands. although they are also more jealous and possessive of their husbands’ time, that is another topic to discuss in the future.

But going back into the question about visas for foreigners married to Filipinas, I will try to discuss them in more detail in this column and in the columns to come.

Foreigners, in general, who have contracted a valid marriage to a Filipina may apply for a Sec. 13 (a) Visa, also called a Temporary Residence Visa or TRV and be entitled to stay as temporary residents.

Certain procedures are to be followed and documentary proof provided by the applicant. the financial capacity of the alien must also be proven not only to ascertain that he will become a public charge in the Philippines but also to ensure that the alien will be able to support his family here in the manner and in the condition that is appropriate to their status in society.

There is this common question of what happens to a foreigner who was granted a TRV and his Filipina wife dies? Will the alien’s visa be automatically canceled? There are two schools of thought in this issue. One is that the TRV will be automatically canceled as the vinculum or the tie that binds the marriage is cut with the death of the spouse. Hence, there is no more basis for the married-to-Filipina visa to subsist. The second school of thought argues that the TRV continues especially if there are minor children or businesses or property to protect. The unity of family allows the visa to continue and unless there are compelling reason to cancel the visa, the visa subsists. I am of the considered opinion that the second school of thought applies. The grant of the TRV is in consideration of the unity of the family for the children and the wife to live a normal life and for the foreigner to inculcate in him the values, traditions, cultures and practices of the Filipinos and the family traditions and relations. Now, when the Filipina dies, the entirety of the intentions are not entirely lost. The alien may have embraced practices and customs of our country and may even have engaged in civil and other useful projects which will help Filipinos more even with the death of the spouse. Surely, the pains of death and the uncertainly of the future because of the sudden demise of the spouse will be compounded with the insecurity of the loss of the TRV.

Upon approval by the Board of Commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration, upon favorable recommendation by the Board of Special Inquiry which hears the application, a Probationary TRV good for one year is generally issued by the Bureau of Immigration. An application for conversion will then be applied before before the end of the Probationary TRV expires. Upon approval by the Board of Commissioners, the TRV could be granted for another two years (for restricted aliens) or for five years for non-restricted aliens. Restricted aliens are those who are required a visa prior to entry into the Philippines. Examples of them are Indians, South Koreans, Chinese, Iranians and Russians. These nationals get only a maximum of five years of TRV. Non-restricted nationals, or those who need no visa to enter the Philippines like Americans, Brits, Australians, Japanese, Singaporeans and most European nationals, may get ten years per grant of the TRV.

This probationary status gives opportunity for the Filipina spouse not to sponsor anymore for conversion of the Probationary TRV to a permenent one for another couple of years or for five years if the alien spouse is abusive, violent, a womanizer, or engages in drugs or substance abuse, or does not properly support the family in proportion to the alien’s earnings. At the least, the Filipina is given protection here. At its best, the community is assured that the alien given the privilege of a TRV is worthy of such privilege.

The foreigner husbands though should be wary of their spouses and not tend to abuse the TRV since the wife could at any time petition the Bureau of Immigration to cancel the visa of her abusive alien husband. This is to make sure that the alien husband behaves in a proper manner.

Another privilege that a foreigner has if he is married to a Filipina is what is called a Balikbayan Visa. It is stamped on the passport of the alien married to a Filipina upon arrival at the port of entry if he arrives together with his Filipina spouse. It is a one year stamp and the alien need not go to the Bureau of Immigration every 59 days to get his extension of stay. This Balikbayan Visa or BV could be availed of only if the spouses arrive together on the same plane or on the same boat coming into the Philippines.

So with these two types of visa, any foreigner married to a Filipina will surely get a special privilege and have every reason to stay in the Philippines. These visas not only propel the local economy with the money that the aliens will spend here and the boost that tourism will get but will also promote inter-country marriages and the plunge of genetic mixture and improvement that both nationalities will have as children of these mixed marriages will surely produce a breed of kids with better genetic traits rather than genetic mutations.

Thus, in the end, the advent of the internet cafes and the international money-transfer agents are not negative off-shoots of the way women chose their mates. It is an advent of mixed marriages whose far-reaching benefits will be felt more in the generations to come.

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