It also may not be possible to live there permanently and work because of visa and residency restrictions. I wanted to move to the Philippines a few years back

It also may not be possible to live there permanently and work because of visa and residency restrictions. I wanted to move to the Philippines a few years back (my wife is from Manila), but in researching I found it would be difficult to live and work there as a US citizen. There are classes of visa that allow you to live there and start companies (e.g. SIRV [1]), but they usually require a large deposit (~$75,000 USD) and a lot of strict requirements. There is also a retirees visa (SRRV [2]) which is a little cheaper ($20,000 locked in for duration or $50,000 convertible to domestic investment), but you have to be 35 or older (which I am as of 2 months ago). 1. http://philippinevisalawyer.com/?q=special-investor-resident-visa-sirv http://philippinevisalawyer.com/?q=special-investor-resident... 2. http://www.pra.gov.ph/main/srrv_program?page=1 http://www.pra.gov.ph/main/srrv_program?page=1