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Schengen Embassies in the Philippines

For your reference, here are the Schengen Schengen States with Embassies and Consulates in the Philippines

Austria (plus Lithuania)
4/F Prince Building, 117 Rada Street 
Legaspi Village, Makati City 
Tel. No. (02) 8179191/8174992; Fax. No. (02) 8134238 

Belgium (plus Hungary, Luxembourg and Slovenia)
6/F Don Jacinto Building, De la Rosa cor. Salcedo Streets
Legaspi Village, Makati City 
Tel. No. (02) 8451869/72; Fax No. (02) 8452076 

Czech Republic
Rufino Pacific Tower 
6784 Ayala Avenue, Makati City 
Tel. No. (02) 8111155; Fax No. (02) 8111020 

Finland (plus Estonia)
21/F Far East Bank Center 
Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue, Makati City 
Tel. No. (02) 8915011/15; Fax No. (02) 8914107 

France 
16/F Pacific Star Building
Makati Ave. cor. Sen Gil Puyat Ave. Makati City 
Tel. No. (02) 8576900; Fax No. (02) 8576951 

3 big land firms hold P6.7-B payment for Cebu property

Taken from this article on Inquirer.

CEBU CITY—Three big land developers called off the scheduled down payment of P6.7 billion for a 45-hectare property inside the South Road Properties (SRP) after questions were raised on the validity of the lot disposal.

Representatives of the consortium composed of Ayala Land Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., and Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) informed city officials on Thursday night that they were canceling the turnover of the down payment on Friday morning at City Hall.

After the turnover, the consortium and FLI were supposed to receive notice of award as winning bidders for 26 hectares Lot No. 8-B-1 and 19.2 hectares in SRP, a 300-hectare reclaimed land owned by Cebu City.

Long Stay Student Visa for France

While doing my research about moving to France to study, I have scoured the internet forums and blogs for tips and tricks regarding French student visa applications for Philippine passport holders and to no avail did I find anything helpful, if at all. So, after finally getting mine, I thought I'd share to you what you need to be a step closer to getting that elusive Schengen visa.

Just to be clear, this post will cover the requirements and procedures to apply for a Long Stay Student Visa for France for Philippine passport holders. This is basically based on my experience while processing and getting the visa by myself. I did not go through any agencies. This is a DIY visa application.

Here I have collated all my references in applying for my visa with links to their respective sources.

For your official reference on tourist and other visas, please head on over to the Embassy of France in Manila website located here.

Again, this post will only cover Long Stay Student Visas for France for Philippine passport holders.

I'm assuming you've already secured yourself a spot in the school that you applied for and you're now on your next step which is applying for your student visa.

If you're still shopping around for schools, I won't be of very much help on how to start. I actually found my school when I was there in Paris the other year. Though, you can try the Campus France Manille website located here to help you with your search. They also have a Facebook Page located here.

Campus France Philippines offers free educational consultation services to everyone who wants to know how they can pursue higher education in France. You may click here for more information.

For more information on Campus France or to set an appointment with the Philippine representative for Campus France:

manille@campusfrance.org

(02) 857 6900

http://www.philippines.campusfrance.org/.

Consultation is by appointment only.

How to Apply for a Tourist Visa for Canada

More information on how to apply for a tourist visa for Canada can be found here.

Before you plan your visit, you should find out what entry documents you need to enter Canada. Click this link and make the appropriate selections.

This post will cover the requirements and steps on how to apply for a visit visa for Canada for Philippine passport holders.

You can apply for a visit visa online or on paper. If you need help, you can contact the nearest visa application center (VAC). Since I'm from Cebu, it would be located at :

Canada Visa Application Centre — Cebu

VFS Services Phils. Pvt. Inc. 

 9F Keppel Center Unit 905 Samar Loop cor Cardinal Rosales Ave,

Cebu Business Park 

Cebu City 6000 

Philippines 

My Visa Interview at the US Embassy in Manila

This is a repost from my old site. The original post is located here, but I've decided to migrate some of my posts to this new site instead.

"Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the officer, at the time of the application for a visa . . . that he is entitled to nonimmigrant status . . .”

So anyway ... I don't know if it's really difficult for people to get a U.S visa or if it was just luck but it went breezily for me.

I flew in from Cebu at 4:45am, checked into my hotel to leave my phone, went to the embassy at 5:45, barely sunrise.

Paid 700 (the meter was 500 something, the rest was tip) for the cab from the airport, to the hotel as he waited for me to check in then to the embassy.

Was one of the firsts in line.

My interview was kind of like conversing with your friend about your travel plans.

As soon as I approached the window, the interviewer greeted me with a very charming good morning