It seems, there are a lot of people all over the world who believe, they could work in any given country just as easy as in their home country. This is not true, specifically not in the Philippines.
The Philippines is a low-wage country, the average (minimum) income of a factory worker or in construction is about 250 to 300 US$ per month (350 - 550 Peso/day).
Which boss of a company would hire a foreigner who need about ten time an much? The Philippines has about 2.2 Million people unemployed. You can imagine that they do wait just for us foreigners to take over the remaining jobs.
After all, it comes to difficulties, when the company has to apply for a work permit for that foreigner. Like in some other countries in Asia, the company has to prove that the same work can not be done by a Filipino, before a work permit is issued.
The only jobs for foreigners in the Philippines might be as a supervisor or manager in some big international companies but this jobs are as rare as a jackpot in lotto.
Another option for foreigners might be the many call centers in the Philippines. But again, the jobs for English speaking Call Center Agents are given to Filipinos first, since most of them are well educated and speak good English. However, in the past few month this call centers started looking for agents also in languages other than English.
Working in Call Centers
The payment in this English speaking call centers is about 15 to 25,000,- Peso per month while agents in other languages can earn up to 50 or even 75,000,- Peso per month. Maybe you are lucky if you speak some other language.
Please note that it is much easier to get a work permit if you are legally married to a Filipina. You just have to register with the Department of Labor and Employment and that's it. But still you have to think about if you want to work for 300,- US$ or even less per month.
If you are already married to a Filipina, you may also have your own business in the Philippines. It could be anything from a small store, a restaurant, a beach resort, a dive center or some sort of consulting or advisory service. You can do that by simply register the firm in the name of your Filipina wife which is the easiest way to do it.
Investor Visa
If you are not married to a Filipina, you will have to bring a huge amount of money in the Philippines, I think it's about 75,000 US$ by now, to apply for an Investor Visa but it will still be difficult to run through all the bureaucratic steps. Good Luck!
A good idea to make a living in the Philippines for foreigners is an Online business. You can run it run it from your living room, all you need is an Internet connection.
