Every year, thousands of Americans make the move to the Philippines. Most love it. But almost all of them — even the ones who did their research — make at least one of these five mistakes in the first 90 days.
Some are expensive. Some are just embarrassing. A few can genuinely derail the whole thing.
Here's what to watch out for.
Mistake #1: Signing a long-term lease before you've found your footing
This is the most common and most costly mistake. You land in Manila, fall in love with the energy of BGC, sign a 12-month lease, and three months later realize you picked the wrong building, the wrong street, or the wrong part of the city entirely.
The fix: spend your first 30-60 days in a serviced apartment or short-term rental. It costs a little more monthly but gives you the freedom to explore the neighborhood properly before you commit. BGC alone has enough variety that where you land first is rarely where you end up staying.
Mistake #2: Trusting the wrong people too fast
The Philippines is one of the friendliest countries in the world. Filipinos are warm, hospitable, and genuinely helpful. This is also what makes new expats vulnerable.
In the first 90 days, before you know the landscape, it's easy to be overcharged by landlords, misled by fixers, or taken advantage of by people who specialize in spotting new arrivals. It's not unique to the Philippines — it happens in every expat destination — but the friendliness makes people drop their guard faster here.
The fix: build your trusted network slowly. Get referrals from established expats before hiring anyone for anything significant. Join the expat communities in BGC before you arrive.
Mistake #3: Not setting up a local bank account and relying only on ATM withdrawals
Pulling cash from an ATM every few days sounds fine until you realize the fees add up fast, the withdrawal limits are low, and some ATMs regularly run out of cash on weekends.
The fix: open a local Philippine bank account within your first few weeks. BDO and BPI are the most widely used. Note that most branches require your ACR I-Card (Alien Certificate of Registration), which typically isn't issued until you've been in the country for at least 59 days or have started a long-term visa process. Our team can point you toward expat-friendly branches in BGC that can work with you earlier in the process.
Mistake #4: Not deciding on your visa pathway before you land
Most Americans arrive on a tourist visa and assume they'll sort out the long-term visa later. Then "later" becomes a scramble — visa runs, extension queues at the Bureau of Immigration, and last-minute paperwork stress that could have been avoided entirely.
The fix: decide on your visa pathway before you arrive. If you're 50 or older, the SRRV (Special Resident Retiree's Visa) is the gold standard — it's essentially permanent residency with significant financial and lifestyle benefits. If you're younger, there are newer pathways like the Digital Nomad Visa that didn't exist a few years ago. Deciding before you land is the difference between a smooth transition and a bureaucratic nightmare.
Mistake #5: Trying to figure it all out alone
This is the one that costs people the most — not just money, but time and peace of mind. They spend months doing research, joining Facebook groups, reading contradictory forum posts from years ago, and still arrive in Manila feeling unprepared.
The ones who have the smoothest transitions are the ones who got help from people who have done it hundreds of times before.
You don't have to make these mistakes.
If you're serious about making the move to BGC, our team has helped hundreds of Americans navigate every one of these pitfalls. We know the buildings, the visa pathways, the banks, the landlords to avoid, and the ones to trust.
Travel Well,
Evan Lorezca
The Savvy Expat