Very angry and very frustrated!!

[alanmf1]

Hi All,
As some of you may know I was hoping to meet Arlene in Hong Kong and spend a wonderful few days with her and hopefully propose to her!
Well thanks to what appears an over zealous and pompouss Filipino immigration official that is not now going to happen!
I am currently sat in HK airport having left Beijing early this morning. I thought that I had it covered as Arlene had checked in in Manila and was more excited than I!

She had confirmed return ticket, copy of confirmed hotel accomadation and a letter from me stating the purpose of our visit with addresses contacts and that I was responsible for her expenses whilst in HK.
She also had just over 10K pp in her possession.

She has been refused EXIT from manila because they claim she had insufficient funds for 3 days and did not have a signed invitation letter from Phil embassy in HK!


Has anyone experienced this before or have we just been unlucky?
We have lost the return fright cost and the hotel in HK!
As you can imagine I am livid!

Currently trying to book myself on flight to manila tonite but Cebu Pac can't sell a ticket at airport within 24 hrs of departure and Philippine Airlines want 3000HKD!

The 13th obviously isn't my day!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Terpe]

alanmf1,
I can only imagine what you both must be feeling. My heart goes out to you both.

It's just an unbelievable story!!
There does not appear to be any sense to this at all.

So sorry to hear this.

[mhaedonald]

Sorry about that..Yes that happened to me before in Cebu pacific terminal 3 they been asking alot of documents which is unnecessary and asking many question untill ur plane left! So i had to buy my new ticket the next early morning..But not to hongkong its to singapore...I also have 10k in my wallet as im going to meet my husband there(he is just my fiancee by that time)...But they didn't ask me how much is in my wallet they are asking me for letter of invitation from my fiancee and proof where will i stay..It's strict in that airport in my experience coz in other airport they will let you go to ur flight as long as u have ur return tickets and hotel bookings... They have many blah blah blah there... I know how you feel thats what i feel as well when me and my fiancee was so excited to see each other but the immigration officer keep on asking for something unnecessary and asking u to try and go to other immigration line and in result they said the plane left..i feel like i wanna cry...Then i book my flight i ask my husband to send me invitation letter in internet and print it with the hotel bookings before my flight..Feel relieve when i see him and feels like i miss him more...hope u will be with her soon....

[mhaedonald]

and i promise i won't ever go in that terminal again..First time i tried there but i got trauma in it and heart broken coz so excited to be with my fiancee and imagining lots of things! but what happened is i wait in the airport for my my early flight imagining him with me

[malditako]

i didn't know u have to provide all those things to go to other southeast asian countries...some of my relatives go there without any problems with the immigration at the airport. is it in NAIA or at the new airport?

[mhaedonald]

Also sometimes they wont let u enter if u book the flight in internet and u dont have the card u used to book it or u don't have clear photocopy of it..The other immigration is fine, but there are times that ur gonna face to a strict one who will ask for many documents which there is nothing u can do but give a nice smile or else they will report u and had bad records in immigration for being disrespectful...annoying!...Anyway hope u get flight as soon as possible to be with ur mahal

[sars_notd_virus]

i didn't know u have to provide all those things to go to other southeast asian countries...

Yeah i guess theres no visa needed if filipinos need to visit hk for 14days,...what is this financial documents and letter of invitation???etc etc..

[raynaputi]

when i was going to Singapore before for work 2yrs ago, many advised in pinoysg forum to not take flights thru Cebu Pacific because lots had the hardest time in exiting Manila going to Singapore..most of them said that Immigration Officers are not convinced that these people (especially 1st time international travellers) will go just for a vacation coz Cebu Pacific offers cheap tickets..at that time, i opted to get return tickets from PAL, declared it's just for vacation purposes (although i already have the signed working contract with me)..when i got to the immigration officer, she checked my passport, my ticket from PAL then she stamped my passport..no questions asked and she didn't even checked my return tickets..while i found out my friends working in SG did the same thing, declared just a vacation instead of work purposes but got tickets from Cebu Pacific, had been asked so many questions before they could exit Manila..lots of 1st time overseas workers do such things coz processing of ocw's stuff related here (poea, owwa, etc.) takes so long and lots of money..while if u process it at that country where they'll work, it'll just take one day and a certain amount to get poea, owwa, etc.

[fred]

This is a disgusting practice..
WTF are R.P Immigration doing checking and being judge and jury to their own countrymen trying to leave the crab pot even for a short vacation? No better than a bunch of damned commies.

[Terpe]

I think the issues highlighted by raynaputi may be significant.
Just at this time we don't really know who (which organisation) made the final decision.
Whether the airline or immigration.

[raynaputi]

I think the issues highlighted by raynaputi may be significant.
Just at this time we don't really know who (which organisation) made the final decision.
Whether the airline or immigration.

with regards to ticket validity, as Mhaedonald pointed earlier, it's the airlines who has a say on that, whether to check in that passenger..usually if the tickets are paid by credit card, they really need to see the credit card or the xerox copy of it if it was paid by someone else and not the passenger...but being checked in the airline doesn't mean you can already exit Manila..it's still up to the immigration officer if they will let you board the plane...no wonder why the lines in that Immigration area are always soooooo long...i'm just not sure if there are standards that these Immigration Officers follow coz different decisions with same scenarios are experienced...

[johncar54]

A friend of mine had the same experience when his gf was going to Thailand for a couple of weeks. I had made the booking for the flight for my friend as he had a problem with credit cards.

The refusal to let her fly was that of the immigration officer not the airline, she had in fact checked in and was stopped after that


I was able to get over the problem by faxing a letter to IB saying I would be responsible for all her expenses. It was of course not true as I was in Spain. She was able to fly out the next day although of course there were some additional expenses.

[RickyR]

wow, Alanmf1 I am so very sorry for your situation. I am actually angry for you thinking about it. I really can't understand this kind of situation!
The ridiculous thing is that when I'm with my missus and we go to and from hong kong, I present the passports and they never ask for anything! We aren't married yet!

[RickyR]

08:00 am tomorrow morning with Cebu Pacific online 475HKD including taxes.

[purple]

I know exactly how you feel. Been there but not in my country though. It happened to me and husband.

I think this is all lesson learned that we need to share. We will never know what we can expect when traveling.
Two months ago, when we went for honeymoon in Sri Lanka with my husband a british national and have to transit in Malaysia won't let us in. Some changes on policies with Visit on Arrival visa. Air Asia won't let us board because must get the visa from malaysian embassy in Colombo which would take 3 days. I was furious and my husband been talking on his sleep cursing the immigration policies. The next day the airline called us that we can rebook the flights because we are allowed to enter. Same thing with the rest of the tourists that were stuck in Colombo. Feel sorry for those who were traveling tight on budget because the have to rebook the airline for the last destination.
What I am saying is that, we better expect the unexpected because there are circumstances that are meaningless and non-sense that can go around with airlines, immigration etc.

[johncar54]

Further to above, when I said a friend's fiancée was not allowed to depart from MNL on a flight to BKK.

Below is an emaill which I had sent to BI asking what she would need, and their reply (no mention or letter of invitations, funds etc) Despite that reply as I said she was stopped and I had to send the letter guaranteeing her costs.

When I spoke to immigration they said the reason they stopped people was because they wanted to be sure their citizens were not being exposed to risks by unscrupulous people taking advantage of them. I am not convinced that their reason was not jealously.



COPY EMAILS

TO Bureau of Immigration, Philippines:

Subject Filipino travelling to Thailand as a tourist.



A friend of ours, a Filipino, is intending to travel to from MNL toThailand for an 11
day holiday. I have just visited your web page and it shows she will
only need a valid passport (she has a new one just issued) and her return
ticket. No visa needed to Thailand.
My wife tells me she is certain that the friend will need a stamp from CFO and maybe more!
I should be grateful if you advise what she will in fact need.
Many thanks, salamat, John Cxxxxxxxxx

REPLY FROM BI

From: "BI Helpdesk" <xinfo@immigration.gov.ph>
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 11:06 PM
To: "John Car........." ....... @ ...........>
Subject: Re: Bureau of Immigration, Philippines: Filipipno travelling to
Thailand as a tourist.

She only needs to present a valid passport and a confirmed return ticket at the airport of exit.

The CFO stamp is only for immigrants and not for tourist.

> Have a nice day.

[Steve.r]

when i was going to Singapore before for work 2yrs ago, many advised in pinoysg forum to not take flights thru Cebu Pacific because lots had the hardest time in exiting Manila going to Singapore..most of them said that Immigration Officers are not convinced that these people (especially 1st time international travellers) will go just for a vacation coz Cebu Pacific offers cheap tickets..at that time, i opted to get return tickets from PAL, declared it's just for vacation purposes (although i already have the signed working contract with me)..when i got to the immigration officer, she checked my passport, my ticket from PAL then she stamped my passport..no questions asked and she didn't even checked my return tickets..while i found out my friends working in SG did the same thing, declared just a vacation instead of work purposes but got tickets from Cebu Pacific, had been asked so many questions before they could exit Manila..lots of 1st time overseas workers do such things coz processing of ocw's stuff related here (poea, owwa, etc.) takes so long and lots of money..while if u process it at that country where they'll work, it'll just take one day and a certain amount to get poea, owwa, etc.

It must be a bad day today!! My Asawa was booked to fly from Clark to Singapore for a few weeks visiting her cousin. She got to the airport and was refused a visit visa!! She was so upset and angry, she was on the phone in tears. It is her birthday today also, so the friends she was going to meet in SIngapore for a party have now also been let down by the over zealous immigration in Clark!!

[Rosie1958]

So very sorry to hear of your experience and what a dreadful state of affairs! I hope that you manage to be with your Arlene very soon and that you have an extra special time

[raynaputi]

Hey Steve..Charie works in SG right? Doesn't she has her work pass id?

[dontpushme]

I didn't realise it was so hard to go from one SEA country to another. As far as I knew (before reading this thread), all we needed were our passports and plane tickets. I bet the immigration official was just looking for a bribe.

[dontpushme]

Okay, that was unfair of me. The folks at Immigration have always been good to me. Maybe he just didn't have reason to believe that Arlene was actually planning to come home. I'd blame this on the people leaving the PI to illegally work in other countries. I know they have good reasons (and I hope I don't offend anyone), but it makes things harder for the rest of us.

It must be a bad day today!! My Asawa was booked to fly from Clark to Singapore for a few weeks visiting her cousin. She got to the airport and was refused a visit visa!! She was so upset and angry, she was on the phone in tears. It is her birthday today also, so the friends she was going to meet in SIngapore for a party have now also been let down by the over zealous immigration in Clark!!

That's terrible! I'm sorry she's not having any luck leaving the PI either. :(

[johncar54]

As far as I knew (before reading this thread), all we needed were our passports and plane tickets.

As you will see from the reply (Copied above) that was what BI said too !

[alanmf1]

Dear All,
Many many thanks for the replies and support. I am now sitting in business lounge at Chep Lap Kok waiting for my connecting flight back to Europe.

There are many ways to view this i guess but my on conclusion is as "dont push me " has stated that the immigration official was looking for a bribe.
I was sure i had all angles covered with return ticket, copy of hotel confirmation, a letter from me as guarantor and 10K pp in her pocket!

However not to be.. the immigration official was a lady and kept asking Lyn many many questions etc about our relationship etc all of which was fine and understandable. She said she did not possess sufficient funds for a 3 night trip! and when Lyn told her she had funds in ATM account she asked her to go and make a withdrawal and return. It is this alone that makes me believe that a "transfer of funds" to the officer was required........

As some members have noted it does appear to be a common affair with Cebu Pac flights from T3 and i guess more so with single lady wishing to depart alone.....
I guess i would understand more if it had been a refusal at immigration at point of entry but in 25 years of World travel i have never experienced anyone being refused leave from their national country!!!
I am sure were she with friends or me then there would have been no issue.

As there is a no refund policy also with Cebu Pac i am suspicious to there being a collusion within certain areas at T3!

Any way i will attempt to research more on the "needs for invitation letter from embassy"...!!!

As they say what will be will be.....

So on discovering this i hastily went in search for Cebu ticket desk in Kowloon and manage to get a return to manila for under 1000HKD for wednesday evenings last flight.

Instead of a trip of a life time to HK for 4 days we ended up with a hastily re arranged 2 days in Manila!!!

So good to see my Mahal and she was so very happy too.

Anyway it kinda upset my proposal plans a little so she will just have to wait until i go back to Bohol on 3rd November!!!

@Fred any tips my friend on the most romantic place in Bohol????

@Steve, sorry to hear of Chari"s troubles too... it does make your blood boil at time!!

I am also fairly sure that this was an isolated incident and as also stated on most occassions it should be fine to travel within asian nations with valid passport and return tickets.....

thanks again folks

TTFN

Alan

[somebody]

The Wife has heard on the Pinay Grapevine covering at least four continents and many countries powered mainly by Facebook that immigration are asking in the last few months for detailed evidence which would have been used for the Visit Visa. Ie Details and copies of Passport of the sponsor and other copies of evidence submitted.

This has affected people mainly on Vist visas from what i can gather. I can ask more if needed.

I dont know the Phill departure rules but it seems as I have seen advised over the years its important to have when entering a country evidence and good documentation which is evidence to support your Visit Visa application but of course make sure it could not be misconstrued as useful to seek a job in the country your visting..

Just because you have the Visit Visa in your Passport does not mean the people interviewing you when entering the country/ transiting though a country and now it seems leaving a country can request more information.. They all have the right it seems to curtail your visit

[Englishman2010]

I missed this thread Alan, must have been when I was absent to do my decorating. Sorry to read about your troubles, and I can imagine how annoyed you must have been - I know I would have been furious too
I guess this is a lesson for us all to be over prepared if we are planning to meet our loved one's outside of the PI's.
I'm pleased that you managed to hastily re-arrange a flight to Manila and at least spend some time with your lady.
At the time of my reply, you are no doubt enjoying yourself in Bohol. I hope that you have a thoroughly wonderful time with your mahal, and I hope that your proposal plans have gone without any hitches Best wishes to you both