My wife and I will probably go to Leyte in February to buy a house we've had our eye on for a long time. I can't own land in the Philippines, so the house will be in my wife's name. We've been married for almost 42 years, so we're not worried about being scammed. If my wife were planning to scam me, she'd better hurry. 😆 My question is how to send a large amount of money when I don't have a bank account in the Philippines. I live in Florida now, and we'll move in a few years. I don't have an SRRV yet, so I can't open an account, and my wife is now a U.S. citizen and not a dual citizen, so she probably can't open one either. I've looked into Western Union, Wise, and Remitly, but the amount is over 3 million pesos. Any advice or information would be really appreciated. P.S. The actual move is a few years away, and we'll only be in the Philippines for about 5 weeks, like we were earlier this year. There's a lot to do in Florida before then. We need to get rid of most of our belongings and sell our house. I should have mentioned this first.
Your wife can reacquire Philippine citizenship (under the dual citizenship law, i.e., the Philippine citizenship retention and re-acquisition act). That would also let you avoid the land size restrictions here.
Congratulations on your long marriage. You're proof to the people who keep saying it's a green card or money marriage that they're wrong. Thank you, because we have to keep putting up with that kind of talk. Both of you should get an ACR (Alien Certificate of Registration) to solve local banking problems. (If you don't want my personal opinion, stop reading here) If you plan to live here 'forever,' you need to face reality. You're fairly advanced in age, so in the near future you'll face aging issues like mobility, health, quality of life, and loss. My advice (or warning) assumes your wife may have more assets than the typical Filipino woman in a love story like this, may be about the same age, and may not be that close to her family. - Some visas require periodic departures, which can become harder over time, so keep that in mind when choosing a visa. (If you're of sound mind, you can change it later.) - You'll need more help. I hope you've visited your wife's family often over the years and plan to live close to them (this forum usually doesn't recommend that, but the concept of a 'watchdog' really exists). - Protect your US assets (IRA, mutual funds, etc.) and keep them accessible. It helps to let a trustworthy relative use their address, or to work with a firm like Schwab or Interactive Brokers that allows overseas residence. The time will come when a bank asks for a current ID with proof of address (in the US) as part of its routine KYC process, and they won't tell you in advance or give you time. - Every 'immigrant visa' subjects you to tax on worldwide income. Your wife's assets are also taxable in the Philippines. Enforcement is lax, but the US and the Philippines exchange information, so it could become an issue later. There's a lot more, but this is a start. Good luck.
As far as I know, you can open a bank account with just a regular 30-day visa. I'm going to try in December too. I live in Thailand and I'm from the UK, and I use Wise. It has several currency accounts, and one of them is pesos. I get daily exchange rate alerts, and when the rate looks good, I send pesos from the UK. I just paid rent for an apartment in BGC, and it took 2 minutes. The landlord just gives you the account info and that's it. Last month I was in China and used the Wise yuan account. I've been using it for years, it gives the mid-market rate, and the fees are very low. Hope this helps.
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