Immigration Officers: How to Deal (Thread 2)

[entwife]

Hi. I created a Thread 2 for this since na-lock na yung first thread.

This has been very helpful para sa lahat ng mga nagtratravel, specially for first time travellers. So keep those stories coming.

[j_in_tokyo]

Bakit kaya di pa natatackle tong issue na to sa mga current affairs program like jessica soho, imbestigador etc?
Im sure maraming manonood nito dahil talamak naman talaga ang kahibangan ng mga IO dyan sa airport natin.

[alexandrea]

May crease sa left-hand corner ng bio page ng passport ko. Di naman umabot sa photo pero naiinis ako sa sarili ko na nangyari yan. Should I get a new passport? Baka kasi mapag-initian ng IOs eh.

[xtine]

^No naman sis, crease ang sha.  Alam ko laminated ang passport bio page especially pag E-passport.  So don't worry.  As long as mababasa ang biometrics mo, ok ka.

[adik_ko]

Good day mga sisses! Ask ko lang kung makakalusot ba sa IO natin sa pinas ang boyfriend ko na papuntang dubai via cebu pacific na under tourist visa sya at walang sponsor na kamaganak doon? Ang purpose nya talaga dun ay mamasyal at naka avail na sya ng RT tickets nya to dubai, tour, hotel booking, sponsor letter ng travel agent at tourist visa. Currently employed sya ngaun sa pinas at walang balak maghanap ng work sa dubai. Hahanapan pa ba sya ng affidavit of support eh financially capable naman sya sa pag tour namin dun?

[j_in_tokyo]

^^ dalhin na lang nya yung company id nya sis..

[entwife]

I have a question. Nagbook yung friend ko ng flight to SG. June 26 2014 return is August 2, 2014. She actually planned to stay there for a week lang pero nagkamali sa date. Now it's an honest mistake. Error talaga and we tried to call the airline to make some changes pero sobrang laki naman ng babayaran for change fee and fare difference.

Now, she's willing to forfeit the return trip and just buy a new ticket for july 2014. 3 pala silang magpipinsan sa flight na yun. Siya is first time out of the country, full time employee dito. Yung isa first time rin at gragraduate pa lang ng college sa March, so I am not sure if may work na yun by that time. The other one, I have no idea. May tita pala sila sa Singapore at dun sila magstay while andun sila.

Question is, red flag ba yun sa IO kung ang ipapakita mong itinerary mo is yung june-august na ticket (since nasa iisang itinerary to) kahit pa magpakita ka ng mas maagang return ticket. And since it's more than 30 days, baka hanapan pa sila ng visa or what. Eh hindi naman daw madelete ng airline yung return flight na ifoforfeit.

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ since they'll forfeit the August flight and will buy another return ticket, pag hinanapan sila ng flight itinerary, ipakita na nila yung printout ng new booking (with the correct return date). Ang importante naman is makita ng IO yung return ticket nila.

[entwife]

Magkakaroon sila ng 2 itinerary eh. yung isang itin nila is yung both trips jun-aug tapos yung isang itin is yung ibobook nila na ticket talaga nila pauwi which is july.

Diba iprepresent din sa IO yung itin mo na departure. Eh di pag binigay nila yung departure na itinerary nila makikita dun yung aug na ticket na pauwi.  Baka lang kasi magkaproblema pag makitang 2 ang return trip nila.

[xtine]

^My officemate was denied entry in Singapore because our HR booked his flight more than a month.  Since naharang sha mismo sa SG immigration, pinauwi sha on the same day and the HR had to rebook another ticket but this time within a month lang ang dates ng flight (to and fro)

[entwife]

I just don't feel right na 2 ticket ang pauwi nila. Kasi baka isipin na yung july ang ifoforfeit kahit pa yung august ang original na pabalik nila. I'll advise her na instead of booking another ticket pauwi, yung papunta na lang ang ibook nila.

Mas mura pa kasi magbook ng bagong ticket kesa magchange.

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ usually naman ang kelangan ng IO makita is yung ticket pabalik ng Pilipinas..so IMO, as long as mapakita na me valid ticket sila pauwi within a reasonable period e ok na yun. They can cancel na their Aug ticket since they don't plan on using it na naman, para just in case icheck with the airline (which I doubt kung magchecheck nga) e makita na cancelled na nga yun, to support yung reason nila na nagkamali ng booking ng return flight nung una.

[entwife]

Nung tumawag ako sa airline i was advised na hindi sila nagcacencel/ delete ng non-refundable flights. Kasi hindi daw magbabalance dun sa system nila yung amount and flights.
Tapos I asked if how much ang marerefund na tax since fare lang naman ang hindi refundable, Around 1800 per person daw. But ang process nila is after the flight date, pag nag-tag na sa system nila as no show, saka lang pwede irefund yun.

Sayang rin yun. Haha

[jeune]

I had a layover in Chengdu (China) from Taipei going to Frankfurt. The IO held my passport when I couldn't give him a visa explaining to him that I was only there for 2 hours just enough time to get all my luggage, checked in again, get screened, go thru immigration and board cause apparently Chengdu was not my airline's hub and Beijing is. After waiting and stressing out if I was going to make it to my next flight past midnight, the lady who took my passport finally stamped it. I felt like I was in amazing race show Never flying with Air China again.

[entwife]

Company ID lang hinanap sakin sis. Flew last September, around 7am,  solo traveller, first OOC.

[bratty]

Just want to share, maayos ang experience ko last Nov.1 sa NAIA Terminal 1. Sobrang haba ng pila, at mabagal ang usad. No choice naman kaya chickahan lang kami ng husband ko at nagmamasid-masid. So nung turn na ni husband, medyo na-excite ako, lumagpas ang foot ko sa yellow line, na-catch naman ng IO ang attention ko, kaya umayos ako nung turn ko na, syempre, greet ko sya sabay abot ng passport at immigration form.
IO: Husband mo (yung nauna)
ME: Opo
IO: kaya pala excited ka eh
ME: di naman po, ngayon lang kasi nakauwi eh.
IO: gaano katagal? (habang binobrowse at scan ang passport ko)
ME: 9 months po
IO: eh di magpapakain ka sa inyo?
ME: di nga po eh...
IO: ah, (sabay abot ng passport)
Sa sobrang excitement ko, imbis na makuha ko yung passport ko, natulak ko pabalik sa kanya)
ME: naku sir, sorry.
IO: ok lang, happy birthday
ME: salamat po (sabay smile at gora!)
Sya ang unang bumati sa akin ng happy birthday.

So ayun, kahit nakakayamot ang pila at kawalan ng sistema sa atin, napa-smile nya pa din ako :

Senysa napahaba.

[entwife]

haha ako rin sis natulak ko pabalik passport ko dun sa IO sa Manila pero flight yun from SG, sa sobrang antok ko eh. Tapos parang nagsmirk sakin yung IO.

[j_in_tokyo]

Depende talaga sa IO kung magiging smooth at maayos yung conversation with them.
Even a little smile from someone can really shift you to feel better.
Ewan ko ba jan sa mga IO natin, hirap na hirap ngumiti.
You can be strict but not arrogant naman. Its how you handle the situation.

[entwife]

Scenario is Manila-HK, 5 Days with 20 kg checked in baggage.

Question ko mga sis is sa boarding pass ba makikita dun kung ilang kilos yung checked baggage mo? Printed ba dun? di ko pa kasi natry magka check in baggage na under ng name ko eh.

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ nope. And your luggage is the least of the IOs concerns, in other words, wala sila paki sa luggage mo. Some people pack light (handcarry lang for a 10-day trip, for example), while some people are heavy packers (as in madaming extra), this does not have any weight kung papayagan ka ng IO umalis (for PH IO) and pumasok sa bansa nila (for destination country IO).