I am currently staying in Southern Leyte for a month, there is an immigration sub-office in Maasin where visa extensions can be obtained, the procedure is that they will take your application, payment and your passport on a Thursday or Friday and will then take the documentation to Tacloban (4 hour drive) for processing, returning the updated passport on the Thursday of the following week. I went to the office on Thursday Dec. 27th (normal working day} and was told to wait and the officer would attend shortly, 1 hour later the officer still had not shown up, I said I would return later as I had business to attend to, upon return I was informed that the officer would not be attending because it was his Christmas party, that's ok I said I will return tomorrow, then I am informed he will not be attending on Friday either, the reason being, you guessed it ! Christmas party..... must be one helluva party if it goes for two days I say... "Come back on Moday sir" the assistant tells me, even though visas are only processed on Thursday and Friday..... only in the Philippines.. The result is I am now faced with the option of a 4hour each way trip to Tacloban, or an overnight ferry to Cebu returning the following day via supercat and a 3 hour drive from Ormoc or overstaying my visa for a few days and paying whatever penalties are necessary at the airport prior to departure, the third option I have done before but several years ago without any hassle, however I have heard that Immigration have really tightened up on people overstaying their visa, does anybody have any recent experience..?????
I do know that the BoI is getting stricter with over-stayers here in Davao and I've heard they're tightening-up in Manila but I'm not sure about either Cebu or Tacloban but I would assume it's the same situation there. Personally speaking, I would not wish to risk becoming an over-stayer were I to be here as a tourist.There is another alternative which you might want to consider. You could contact Paul Whiteway - aka "ancienrocka" - and enlist his services. You'd need to LBC him your Passport and remit the Extension cost plus his fee via LBC/Lhuillier and he will get the Extension on your behalf and hold on to your Passport pending your return to Cebu -- assuming that you will be, of course. You can contact Paul through his web site, Cebu Expat Services.
Thanks for that Mark, I will mull it over in the next few days, I really don't think it's a good idea to overstay.....
