4 Tips When Dealing with Philippine Immigration Officers for Your Travel Abroad

We have heard horror stories in the news or rants on Facebook about people being offloaded in a plane or not allowed to travel abroad due to immigration issues. For people, especially first time travelers, this is quite scary. Imagine the anticipation as well as the money spent on airline tickets, hotel reservations and such but just end up being barred to go out of the Philippines? A horror story indeed!

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I too had my own fair share of stories in immigration. My first time to travel abroad, I was nearly being offloaded. I had the necessary papers, but the immigration officer felt that I will stay in Singapore to find work since my brother is working there.  But I had cleared them of their doubts after 15 minutes of standing and explaining in their booth. But thank God that the immigration officer had seen my sincerity that I will go back here in the Philippines after 4 days as stated in the immigration slip that I answered.

To avoid being offloaded and experiencing the same issues as I had, here are some of the tips to help you:

Be on Time

 

We all know that we had to check in 4 hours before the flight. So to avoid any rush, be on time to go to the immigration booth. For me, I always make it a point that I go to the immigration booth 3 hours before my flight to avoid rushing. Some people are being offloaded because they don't have enough time to go to the departure area. Most of the times, the immigration has long lines and some immigration officers also spend a long time to check on your documents and ask too many questions. But if you are early, you still have an ample amount of time to stand in line and answer every question the immigration officer throws at you without rushing for time.

Have All Required Documents

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There are documents that you need to prepare which the Immigration will surely ask from you such as the following:

• Valid Passport  – see to it that your passport is more than 6 months from the date of expiry.
• Visa - if applicable only
• Round-trip Airline Ticket
• Hotel voucher or invitation letter from persons whom you will stay with abroad

These are =documents that most immigration officers will ask from you. But still, others require you to give more documents, especially if you are travelling alone and for the first time. They will require you to establish evidence that you will surely go back to the Philippines. This will prevent Filipinos to stay illegally in another country and to avoid human trafficking. So, my advice to you is always prepare your documents.

For employed persons, bring your company ID as proof. Just to be sure, you can also bring your Certificate of Employment (COE) stating what company you work, you are on leave and state your salary. I have heard of some situations that officers are asking for this information, which is why some are offloaded. Yes, I agree that these are too much since you all have other documents to support your claim of being able to travel, but just to be on the safe side, bring these too just in case.

For self-employed and businesspersons like me, you can bring your Income Tax Return and business permit just to be on the safe side also. When I traveled, I always bring these papers but it was never asked of me so far. But like I said earlier, in case they will need that information, you have documents to support your claim that you are indeed a business owner.

Answer Questions Honestly

The immigration officer will ask you a lot of questions like, “Where will you be staying?”, “Who is with you?”, “How long will you be staying?”, and even money related questions like “How much money you are bringing?” These are some of the questions that you need to answer honestly and concisely. Do not give other information that is not asked to avoid more follow up questions from them. Just answer what they ask of you. Act confidently and do not show any signs of nervousness because they might mistake it as if you are lying to them.  

Bring Evidence Showing that You Can Finance Your Travels

The immigration officers really want you to establish the proof that you will go back here in the Philippines and you will not apply for work illegally abroad. So better prepare evidence that you are indeed just vacationing and will come back at the time that you promised to go back. So if they ask you how you can finance your trip, "show them the money” as they say. Tell them that you have money as well as show them your credit cards and ATM cards if you have one. Also, you can show them your Income Tax Return in case they will dig deeper. That is why based on my experience, it will be deemed favorable on your part if you bring other documents like ITR etc.

These are some of the tips that I am suggesting because of my experience having been interviewed quite often when I travel. So to sum up what I had written above; prove to them you are qualified to travel abroad and you will be back in the Philippines afterwards. 


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