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About Bill and Lorna Collings
Expertise
Feel FREE to ask us about traveling, living, relocating, retiring and investing in the Philippines. Guests from 83 countries make our place in Manila an incredible meeting place for world travelers who exchange travel stories and information. We understand both the joys and the hardships of living and traveling in the Philippines.

Experience
I arrived in the Philippines in January 1980 to travel for 2 months; I stayed 4 months before reluctantly leaving. I met my Filipina wife, Lorna. an incredible stellar, "one in a million" individual in 1983 in Seoul and we moved to the Philippines in 1986 and opened our 3BR house to world travelers on a budget. After welcoming thousands of guests from 83 nations our place has grown to 30 bedrooms but will never lose its "Home away from Home" atmosphere. Almost everyday at The Townhouse Hotel there's a party-like social scene with vibrant, almost magical energetic conversations between our guests who have the pleasure to meet each other and share their life's many experiences. Sometimes. three groups with conversations in different langauges are going on at the same time.
So we've been exposed to every kind of person from all over the world and shared their experiences.

Publications
Suite101.com, eDreams.com, expertcentral.com ( who asked me to apply with allexperts.com since About.com has bought both companies and are in the process of integrating them)

Education/Credentials
some college 2-1/2 years - no degree - I've been traveling since I was 18, almost 30 years.

Awards and Honors
Luckily, my wife and I have been semi-retired since we were 30 years old, more than 15 years.

You are here: Experts > Cultures > Southeast Asia for Visitors > Philippines > Travel info

Philippines - Travel info

Expert: Bill and Lorna Collings - 10/25/2009

Question
Okay so i have been going back and forth on this and basically i have been talking to this philipina and its been awhile now i only sent 500 bucks for some small reason but thats all i sent throughout the time we known each other but she told me she recently got tourist visa and she needs 3500 as allowance money if not they will not let her board plane to visit me in U.S. I sent a supposed letter of sponsorship to stay at my place but im not really sure why they would require 3500 for her to board plane. this is what she wrote me: Honey i dont know if you still want me to come there becoz immigration ask and said to me that i must to have my showing money..... showing money is an allowance that not lessthan and not morethan $3500.. that is just for emmigency to use just incase if i trap to other island maybe becoz of technical problem of the airline we can land to other island and i can have my money to use for emmergency, that money will be return to you when im there withouth any problem of my flight and immigration adviced that dont use the money if not necessary or else they will not allow you to get your fly easily if i spend even cent of that money....

so any help would be nice as a US citizen i have been babied and dont know how the outside world works. thanks

Answer
Diego the first U$500 BLEW any chance of even some of the best most honest Filipinas because they have CONSTANT PRESSURE from their Mothers and Family members to get money. By sending TEN TIMES too much the first time you can only be consiodered extremely naive and an ideal target for an ON-LINE scammer. Even if it's NOT the Filipina there are others nearby who can tempt and teach even the nicest girl how to extract money out of foreigners. DROP this relationship TOTALLY and LEARN FROM IT then start a new friendship on-line WISER.

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