Changing visas in the Philippines is not something for the fainthearted! Government departments work slowly, and there seems very little coordination within or between departments. The general population seems to accept that this is a fact of life, perhaps because, for many years, this has been a fact of life.
Visas are attached to employment, and each different employer may have a different visa. I originally came into the country on a 'dependent visa', attached to Russell's work. When I started working for Brent school I had to change my visa to a working visa with the school, requiring me to first give my passport to IRRI to send away to the Immigration Department. My visa was changed to a tourist visa, and then returned to IRRI, who returned to to me. I then gave it to the school, who sent it away to the Immigration Department (yes, the same one....) to get the visa required for working for the school. It took me 6 months of talking with the school and IRRI to work out that we had to go through this process, and I was without my passport for 2-3 months. No-one seemed to understand that this was not ideal from my point of view, and I was thankful that I didn't need to go to Australia at short notice during this time.
When I finished working for the school, and started working for IRRI, I needed to go through the same process in reverse, but I was travelling over this time and didn't have 3 months to spare without my passport. This was complicated by the fact that it didn't seem possible for me to change my visa whilst an existing visa was current, without going through the same process. I was in Australia for 5 weeks over June/July, but my school visa expired at the end of July. Apparently, I have to leave the country on the same visa I arrive on, but confirming this was difficult. In the end, I decided on another trip to Seoul (not at all sad about that!), leaving the Philippines before the end of July and returning after the beginning of August. The embassy in Seoul takes 3 days to process a visa (MUCH shorter than the time it takes here!), so a few days looking around Seoul and hanging out with my friends there was perfect!!
I often pine for the days of living in a country where things 'work', and I need to remind myself that there is probably no country where everything works all the time. I think of Australia, and how many processes are in place that have become an accepted norm, and so we don't even have to think about 'fighting' for our rights. Of course, there have been many occasions in Australia where things just take too long, or the person serving us is not interested, but my overall impression is one of organisations, businesses and processes that work well....albeit slowly at times. The time it takes to get medical appointments in Australia can be frustrating, to say the least, and I have had many experiences in Asia (mostly Korea) where seeing a specialist takes days, not months, and the cost is a fraction of that in Australia.
The Philippines is a whole new experience - a land where some things just don't work well at all, and other things seem to almost work. The banking system is always frustrating...... outwardly is looks fairly modern and streamlined, but the reality is that it is weighed down by excessive paperwork (which repeats electronic steps that have already been completed) and a sense that taking time is not a problem.
Filipinos are patient people. I imagine this is in no small part due to the fact that things take a long time to happen, and so people have learnt to accept this. Foreigners take a while to accept this......
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