Immigration Officers: How to Deal (Thread 2)

[swtgrl_bee]

Sis  mama squeak!, sayang sana dati ko pa nabasa yung ganitong comment. Super friendly pa ang vibe ko pa naman. Tipong Disneyland vibe na. 

Sis izabelle ayan pala according to sis hushush okay lang naman kapag 5 year-old. Talagang na compute siguro ni Ate IO na 7 years old and 1 day na ang anak ko noong flight na yun.  Ang sistema sa amin ganito (kwento ko na din para sa ibang may bigger kids) After ni Husband sa IO (yung counter nila typical na cubicle na pangdalawahan) pinaalis na siya. Hindi niya wait yung anak ko, so next naman yung anak ko nakikita na niya Daddy niya. Don't worry mga parang 10 steps lang ang pagitan. So nakikita naman ng anak ko saan siya pupunta. Then turn ko naman na. Magbibigay ng passport sa IO yung anak ko, then siya din ang kukuha.

Pero good learning experience din naman ito, kasi right after noon "process" namin sa anak ko na ayun na nga nasa different country kami so different culture and norm. 

[izabelle]

^ ^^ thank you mga sis.

Ang naging worry ko lang talaga is kung one by one at papaalisin agad yung naunang parent, papano si daughter, hindi alam saan sya punta.  Napraning ako baka kung saan mapunta, mawala. Kaloka. haha!

pero kung 10 steps away lang ang daddy, e ok na ok na yan.

[swtgrl_bee]

^Yes sis, hindi naman siya different location. All at the same place lang talaga.  Gayahin mo nalang advice ni sis mama squeak!  All the best and enjoy. Saka 5 palang naman anak mo for sure papayag naman silang samahan mo. Post ka din dito ulit ah?

[izabelle]

^ I will sis. Super layo pa ng samen. November pa alis namin, masyado lang akong excited haha!  Mas ok na din prepared. Thank you sa mga feedback nyo.

[melodymedley]

To those who recently flew-out, matagal ba talaga ang pila sa immigration? I saw some people posting the long lines. So tama ang advise ng PAL to be at the airport 5-6 hours before just to be safe? So if I want to be on the safer side, dapat mas maaga? 

[ohcmon]

^ I flew to SG via T3 Tuesday last week. I was 5 hours early bcs I was expecting the long lines dahil sa BI issue at iniisip ko peak season of traveling dahil Holy Week, but everything was a breeze. The immigration queues were short, as in isang tao lang ahead of me pagpila ko.

CebPac also allowed early check in, and they advised everybody to web/self-check in before nila papilahin sa bag drop counter. Wala nang counters for manual checking in. There were also separate lines for people without check-in baggage.

'Yung mahahabang lines sa BI I think sa arrival 'yun.

[chicafabulosa]

I flew to Sg via T2. We were there 4 hrs before our flight ( 6:05 am flight)' nag open PAL check in counters 3 am na. immigration naman swift lang rin, 2 ang nakita ko sa lane namin not sure if 2 rin lang ang nasa OFW lane. Then yung pagbalik namin, mahaba ang pila ng arrival. Kaunti lang yung officers.

[blackgreen]

Mabilis lang din sa amin last week. Malalamin namin today kung matagal immigration ng arrivals.

11:55pm flight namin T1. Andun na kami 7pm para 5 hours before the flight. Nagbukas check in counter 3 hours before the flight. Pagpila namin sa immigration konti lang pila. I thought dahil red eye flight kami. Pero mukhang mabilis na talaga.

[minnie99]

I'll be flying this Sat morning. Reading the posts, mukhang okay naman 3 hrs before the flight ano? My flight is at 7AM naman via PAL.  Hope everything goes well.

Kinakabahan ako kasi April 26 balik ko, apparently may ASEAN event at yung date na yung ang start. Siguro matagal ako pipili sa immigration nito.

[blackgreen]

Pila na kami ngayun immigration arrivalsT1. Haba ng pila but i guess tolerable naman. 5 counters ang open for Philippine passport holders. May 1 for special assistance counter.

Sa Korea pala wala ng tatak sa passport pag paalis ka na sa kanila.

Nung paalis kami last week ang tinanong lang sa akin ng IO any connections sa government. So far wala pa kami bad experience sa IO.

[mei-mei]

I'll be flying this Sat morning. Reading the posts, mukhang okay naman 3 hrs before the flight ano? My flight is at 7AM naman via PAL.  Hope everything goes well.

Kinakabahan ako kasi April 26 balik ko, apparently may ASEAN event at yung date na yung ang start. Siguro matagal ako pipili sa immigration nito.

Flew with PAL the other day. Yung pila ng immigration sa right side ng entrance, super haba ng pila. When I tried the left side (beside counters 70+), wala halos. Yung open kasi na gates nasa right side so I think people just naturally went to the immigration queue in that side. I was able to check in, pass through immigrations and security checks in 40 mins. Not bad.

[ambitious]

mga sis, pwede ko bang i hand carry ang mga tepal or ceramic cooking wares from doha to pinas

[obsessivecompulsivegeek]

Hi. I'll be traveling this May 23-27 with my Boyfriend. MNL-SG-KL-MNL. I just got a little worried while reading blog posts regarding off-loading. I'm a Medical Student kasi and first time ko mag-tratravel as an adult. Last I've been out of the country was nung 2011 pa (USA) but i was with my family, so mejo weak yung history ko of travel.

Do you guys think mahihirapan akong makalusot sa Immigration? especially since I'll be staying with my sister sa SG? Ano tingin nyo guys? huhu. Natakot ako bigla eh.

Ang hirap kasi weak yung travel history ko and since medical student ako, wala akong financial capability talaga:( And ang magbabayad kasi talaga ng trip na 'to is my dad pero via CC ni boyfriend. pwede ba yung sabay kami iinterviewhin or dapat magkahiwalay? Shucks i'm really getting anxious kahit ang tagal pa :O

Help??

[yn061515]

^^ sis hindi kakasya sa overhead board yan I think.
Kailangan mo icheck in kung hindi kakasya.

^ show them proof of enrollment and bank statement if you have, that might help.
Also kung magkasama ticket booking nyo ni boyfriend sa ticket, you can approach the immigration officer together. Prepare ka din ng hotel booking, you can have a dummy booking from any site online, pili ka lang ng hindi kailangan ng cc.

[obsessivecompulsivegeek]

^Wala kasi akong CC sis eh. atm meron, pwde ba yon? :/ hmm. Pano yung dummy booking sis? Hindi ba ako ma-chachargean?

Paano sis kung ang ipakita ko Ay booking ng Malaysian hotel since MNL-SG-KL-MNL naman ang trip namin? Or better pa din if may SG na hotel?

[yn061515]

^ may ticket ka rin from SG to Malaysia or by land lang?
Sa booking.com, merong mga hotel na hindi nagrerequire ng cc. Pwede mo ifilter/sort. 

[minnie99]

^pwede kahit different booking sa NAIA3, sabay. Ginawa namin ng boyfriend ko last November. Hehe.

Wala kang letter of invitation from your sister?

[minnie99]

Yes, safer if  you have one especially since SG pala ang entry niyo. Problem is, kailangan pa ata niya dalhin 'yun sa isang office (embassy ba or one of the ministries in SG)? Not sure, narinig ko lang before sa friend ko. I am also not sure if SG IOs will ask for that. Maybe other sisses can answer (try to ask sa SG thread ).

Just be truthful lang in answering and bring supporting docs like student ID etc.

[ohcmon]

^^ Gawa ka lang kahit sa MS Word ng invitation letter stating that your sister will be the one in-charge of your stay. Isama mo address, passport number, work pass number, mobile number niya, and affix na lang her e-signature.

This is what I do whenever I visit fiance sa SG. I just tell the IOs that I'm staying with him sa SG, no problems whatsoever naman.

[yn061515]

obsessivecompulsivegeek for as long as may return tickets ka to and from SG, okay nayun. It's very seldom for IOs to ask for your full itinerary unless kaduda duda ka talaga. What I prepare whenever I go to asian countries ay:

1. return tickets
2. hotel booking (miski dummy lang), as I said, you can do this sa mga hotel booking sites like booking.com, etc
3. leave form/letter of employment (in your case, proof of enrollment)
4. statement of account (credit cards, debit cards) they also sometimes ask how much you have with you, it shouldn't be more than 10k of any currency.

just relax, mag tour ka lang naman talaga diba?
and yes, for those invitation letters, kailangan pa ata yan dalhin sa isang gov't something sa SG. Hotel booking would do, atleast for us many times before.