BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Retirement Authority is working to attract more foreigners to retire in the country.
PRA General Manager Atty. Bienvenido Chy said that they are mandated promote the country as a retirement haven and retirement paradise and become the top destination for foreign retirees. It shall attract foreign nationals and former Filipino citizens to invest, reside and retire in the Philippines with the end-view of accelerating the socio-economic development of the country, contributing to the foreign currency reserve of the economy and by providing them the best quality of life in the most attractive package.
“We will make the Philippines a leading and significant destination for the world’s retirees, seniors and elderly,” he said.
Chy in an interview during his recent visit in Baguio City said more than 47,000 retirees have availed of the program of the PRA to date. Most of the foreign retirees and members of the PRA are Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Americans and Europeans.
Under the Duterte Administration, the PRC and other government agencies are collaborating to double the number of foreign retirees who would avail of the governments’ program.
Chy said that they are conducting site visits on their different satellite offices to look into how they could help address the concerns needs. One problem they encountered is on the process in giving a Special Resident Retiree’s Visa (SSRV) to their clients.
SRRV is a special non-immigrant visa that entitles foreign nationals to reside in the Philippines indefinitely with multiple entry privileges. Being an SRRV holder grants the foreign national benefits like exemption from paying travel tax, if his or her stay in the Philippines will not be longer than one year from the last entry date. SRRV holders are also exempted from securing the Bureau of Immigration exit clearances, reentry permits and annual registration requirement.
With the vision of President Duterte to work for change in the government, the PRA is working to cut down red tape and the process in having a SRRV by their clients but not sacrificing the requirements. By doing so, more foreign retirees would be encouraged to settle and retire in the country.
At the moment, the SRRV takes more than three weeks to process with the personal appearance of the clients who are mostly from abroad.
Meanwhile, Eric Pati, PRC OIC of Regions 1, 2 and the Cordillera Region, said that Baguio City and the rest of the Cordillera region are among the top choices where foreign retirees would stay and settle. He said that the PRA has recorded more than 4,000 foreign retirees in the Cordillera region who are all PRA members and clients./JDP/RMC- PIA CAR#
