Immigration Officers: How to Deal (Thread 2)

[str8poopin]

@esor: effective yung tip mo na ilagay student stamp lang wala nang tanong tanong. ok naman trip ko pa US na secondary inspection lang ako sa custom pero hindi naman binuksan tinanong lang kung may chicharon akong dala. about sa IO dito sa US tinanong lang kailan last punta ko sa US and how long. thanks

[honeybunny]

^^I see.. worried lang ako baka strict IO pag sa japan pupunta

[stormy]

First time ko naka-witness na ang tagal kinausap ng IO. Ako kasunod sa line at humaba na ang line hindi pa sya tapos kausapin kaya yun supervisor nag-sungit sabi bakit hindi pumunta pumila sa ibang IO e naku no kaya sinagot ko na pang-foreign passport lang ang walang pila.

Pinalipat kami sa foreign passport holder kaya natapos rin. Pero yun babae hindi pa rin natapos. May fan dun sa area after immig kaya dun muna kami umupo after more than 30mins dumaan tumatakbo yun girl papunta na siguro sa boarding gate nya. Natagalan  pero nakaalis pa rin naman sya

[huit]

^^I see.. worried lang ako baka strict IO pag sa japan pupunta

parang hindi na naman ngayon mahigpit mg IOs. saang terminal ka ba?

[honeybunny]

^terminal 3 sis...

[huit]

^

so far hindi na naman mahigpit dun kasi puro bata na sila

[simang]

^^I see.. worried lang ako baka strict IO pag sa japan pupunta

Based on my experience, minsan mas judgmental and masungit pa yung mga Pinoy IOs.. Haha yung tipong mang iintimidate talaga pero palalagpasin ka din naman, although very rare lang naman. Pero pagbaba mo ng Japan, they're actually very strict. I remember a story yung husband ng auntie (family friend) namin, hindi sya pinalabas ng Narita airport just because wala syang dalang itinerary (first time nya nun, solo traveler to visit my auntie who's based in Saitama). Nakakaloka lang kasi my auntie was already waiting outside for him sa arrival area only to know na pinabalik din sya ng Pinas from the airport.

When I went to LA, mas intimidating yung mga Mexicans/Blacks na IOs kesa sa mga white. In general kasi mas friendly ang aura ng mga whites

[jazz17]

I will be traveling again in a few weeks. Last ko pa is nung March 2014. Hopefully no hassle sa immigration since I'll be using a new passport. Baka isipin first time ko lang at higpitan ako. 😄 Sana andun pa yung IO na girl na nag-interview sa kin the last time. The usual question na anong work and sabi ko teacher. Then bigla akong tinawag na "Ma'am" then asked kung saan daw ako nagtuturo. 😄 Pagdating naman sa Incheon, puro hand signals yung IO like tinuro lang yung camera for the pic. As in di ko narinig boses niya kahit yung IO pag-alis ko dun. 😄

Sa Malaysia, same lagi. No questions asked sa airport, tatak lang agad. Even dun sa border when we went to Legoland from SG, tatak lang agad ng passport. Sa Singapore, lagi matanong kahit ilang beses na ko pumunta doon. Ang question lagi is how long mag-stay and kung saan, anong gagawin dun. Except lang nung may F1, di na nagtanong yung IO ng purpose of visit since siguro puro to watch F1 ang sagot. 😄

[omneecka]

^hi ma'am! 😊

Just dont forget to bring your old passport coz chances are PH IO will look for it. While they can easily check in their system your name, at least u have the tangible proof that u are an international traveller.

This happened to me when i travelled again using my new passport,  no questions asked after showing them my old passport.

😊😊

[countess]

so far I had my fair share as first time traveller sa HK. May kasama sana akong friend (unfortunately di kami nagkatagpo sa mismong flight because of delay *clap clap Cebupac* from Palawan to MNL so she had to be rebooked for next flight, and she's more experienced than me since back and forth na siya sa hk). Ako naman bilang first time sa mga IO mejo di pa ko prepared, I didn't know that this thread exists dapat pala nagresearch din ako, but I was able to present my company ID, itinerary, budget for trip, copies of hotel reservations plus my RT tickets narin screenshot from my phone so mejo pumasa na ako that part. Mejo nakup -alan lang ako sa naginterview I feel like I'm wasting her time jusko di naman maayos mga tanong sakin, puro honest lang naman sagot ko, pagkakait pa ba nila na gusto kong magdisneyland? hehe tip lang especially for employed by company, try to provide proof of your leave schedules baka makatulong coz the IO was asking for a copy unfortunately we don't have hard copy kasi online na filing namin for leaves.

[jazz17]

^^ thanks sis omneecka for the advise. mas mabuti na ngang handa kesa magka-problem.

[krabby_patty]

I was wondering if it would raise a red flag in Immigration if you travel to the same country every 2 months?

Wala naman batas na nagbabawal na mag travel to a certain place over and over again right?

[minnie99]

Can they get your records sa database? Kasi govt employee ako and I travel naman with travel authority before, naisip ko lang if I can save myself some trouble by just saying that I'm a student (which is also true)... Baka lang kasi naka-tag na ako na govt employee...

[PinKisH_23]

In our case naman, it was our second out of the country trip, sa terminal 3 din. Nung turn na namin, tinanong lang kung first out of the country, kasi sa old passport yung first, sabi namin, ay di po, second na, tapos sabi nya, ah kasi bago passport, tapos tinanong nya kung ano yung work namin, nilagay kasi namin freelancer, sabi namin, sa online, tapos hiningi lang yung return ticket (buti nalang na paprint ko rin, muntik ko na makalimutan), tapos sabi nya ah ok so 4 days kayo dun. Tapos ok na tatak, wala na hininging other docs. Though nakaready narin lahat, pati hotel and disney tickets. So far mababait naman na ang IO, kasi last year ganyan din nice rin ang pakitungo nila, medyo mas strict lang kasi that time solo traveler ako to China and first out of the country ko pa.

[honeybunny]

It was my first out of the country last month. Went to Japan. New passport. Had it since 2011 but this year ko Lang nagamit. IO just asked the name of the company I work for. And that's it. Ok naman.

[omneecka]

I went out of PH last week and I was only asked the name of company i worked for and in MY naman i was only asked if its for leisure.

😊😊

[angelpie18]

Hi sisses! My daughter and I have new passports with only our Japan visas. Would you advise that I attach our old passports to the new one to show our travel history? Or should I just bring the old passports to show the IO if he or she asks for it? TIA! 

[omneecka]

^hi sis!

Dalhin mo old passports nyo sis. Normally, PH IO will ask for your old passport.

😊😊

[angelpie18]

Thank you, sis omneecka! Will bring all our old passports to be sure.

[cl1995]

Hindi ako tinatanung ng mga IO's kapag aalis ako ng bansa except nung nag HK kaming mag pipinsan. (Phil passport lang kasi ang dala ko nun) "Hanggang kailan kayo sa Hong Kong?" "Sino-sino mga kasama mo?" Yun lang tinanung sa akin.

Pero kapag US pupuntahan ko, dire-diretso sila. (pano dual ako so I have to show both my US and Phil passports pero pag sa US, US passport lang)

Kapag tinanung kayo sa immigration, be honest lang. Yun lang.