Rants and Raves With Immigration Officers Upon Arrival to Country of Destination

[LadyRider]

What are your experiences naman with the immigration officers upon arrival to your country of destination? Where they strict? Linient? Neither?
Marami rin kase mga nakakatuwa at nakakainis na mga experiences tayong mga Pinoy dito diba?

[LadyRider]

Napansin ko lang sa immigration officers dito sa Asia, hindi sila masyado nagsasalita or nagtatanong. Titignan ka na lang tapos lagyan ng tatak passport mo.

Sa Europe tulad sa France, hindi rin nagtatanong ang Immigration officer. Mostly titignan lang ang visa mo, tatak then next in line please! Pero since strict sila sa mga "Authenticity" ng mga accesories na gamit natin tulad ng mga designer leather goods and accessories. Nakakatawa lang kasi yun ang unang tinitignan nila!

One time, when we arrived in France, me nakasabay kaming pasahero na ang lalagyan ng passport nya eh Louis Vuitton. Biruin ba naman ninyo eh mas inuna pa kilatisin ang leather at trademark nung passport holder kesa dun mismo sa visa. Sabay bigay ng thumbs up telling the Pinoy na authentic ang LV nya! Ngek! Ok diba? (hehehehe)

[frenchtower]

I had a similar experience at LAX just this week. One TSA officer inspected my notebook computer but did not care to mind the one carried by the passenger ahead of me. Must be random protocol. Nonetheless, he did not find anything odd. He just wasted both our time.

[shadow]

nothing special...just the usual question and answer....

[chua_riwap]

Sa Morroco, naman yung paalis ako. Sa airport titingnan nila yung wallet mo. You're not allowed to bring US$ out of Morroco. Nataon na meron akong $15 (lang!) sa pitaka. Aba, pati ba naman yun, gustong i-confiscate. Sabi ko, pambili ko ng snacks sa Charles de Gaulle Airport (France, stop-over ko). Mahabang pakiusapan. Pumayag naman.

Mahigpit sila pag naglabas ka ng foreign currency sa Morroco.

[akal]

Sa Morroco, naman yung paalis ako. Sa airport titingnan nila yung wallet mo. You're not allowed to bring US$ out of Morroco. Nataon na meron akong $15 (lang!) sa pitaka. Aba, pati ba naman yun, gustong i-confiscate. Sabi ko, pambili ko ng snacks sa Charles de Gaulle Airport (France, stop-over ko). Mahabang pakiusapan. Pumayag naman.

Mahigpit sila pag naglabas ka ng foreign currency sa Morroco.

Bro, sa experience ko naman dito sa morocco, hindi naman tinitingnan ang wallet ko. Tinanong lang kung magkano pera ko. Sinabi ko meron ako 700 euro, ok naman. Sa pagkakaalam ko meron lang limit pwede ka maglabas ng pera. Saan airport ka sinita. Casablanca lagi exit ko?

Experience ko nman nung pagbalik ko, nakita yung dala ko rice cooker (wala kasi dito eh). Gusto ba naman i-tax. Pati yung bagong camera na bili ko, kelangan din daw bayaran ang tax. Eh sa pinas ko na man binili at personal na gamit ko yun. Sabi, bago raw kasi..ngek!

Nung sa algeria naman ako, napaka-strict. Sa pagdating mo kelangan i-declare lahat ng personal na gamit mo at pera, dahil sa paglabas ay kung wala sa listahan sa declaration, di mo pwedeng ilabas. Tapos nasa declaration naman tapos di mo dala palabas, ma hold ka. Higpit mga algeryano. Hinahalungkat lahat gamit pag nag enter at exit ka. Di na nakuntento sa x-ray.

Sa London naman, mga usual lang na mga tanong from immigration officer pero sa paglabas mo nandun na yung mga security na naka HK MP5 tapos me mga dala-dalang aso para simhotin yung luggage mo. Pag meron di kanais-nais na amoy, kelangan bukas luggage.

Pagdating naman sa pinas walang kahirap-hirap. Ambilis basta OFW .

[DonT]

We were in a long term assignment in Korea..and as such, we had to get a D-9 visa which is for business people as compared to the normal Tourist or Visit visa.

Now, during those days, very strict sila sa entry ng pinoys dahil madami nga nag TNT dun.

So during our initial trips there..both here in NAIA and Incheon Airport..talagang todo ang cross examination sa kasama ko kasi he does not look like a typical businessman...typical OFW kasi. Di sila makapaniwala. ha ha.

Its just quite amusing experience.

[wildthing]

Sa japan, i was wearing plain shirt and jeans...hindi maniwala na business ang trip ko...duda yata ay hosto ako

buti na lang yung mga boss ko na nauna ay inaatay ako (eh puro disente - naka barong sila)... so i just pointed that i'm with them... kung nagkataon pinauwi siguro ako agad sa next flight back home.

funny is yung immigration officer nila look like teenager lang (or maybe early twenty's lang)...

[redorange]

I had a similar experience at LAX just this week. One TSA officer inspected my notebook computer but did not care to mind the one carried by the passenger ahead of me. Must be random protocol. Nonetheless, he did not find anything odd. He just wasted both our time.

TSA is not the same as Immigration or Customs in the US, that would be CBP that does those jobs.

[smooth]

One time, when we arrived in France, me nakasabay kaming pasahero na ang lalagyan ng passport nya eh Louis Vuitton. Biruin ba naman ninyo eh mas inuna pa kilatisin ang leather at trademark nung passport holder kesa dun mismo sa visa. Sabay bigay ng thumbs up telling the Pinoy na authentic ang LV nya! Ngek! Ok diba? (hehehehe)

FYI: my cousin, who travels to europe regularly, told me that the French are very proud of the LV brand. parang "national treasure" sa kanila yan. please don't try to bring a fake LV into france kasi yayariin ka nila talaga. i guess the thumbs up sign was because he was glad you (or that lady) patronized their "national" product.

edit: (OT) i wish we could be the same for our local products. like for example if we see a foreigner buying hapee toothpaste, we might tell the foreigner, "good for you sir/ma'am, that toothpaste will give you all that you need at a better price."

BTTT: in my experience, parang mas strict ang mga fil-am IO's kaysa sa ibang IO's when entering the US. pansin mo sa immigration, ang iksi ng pila sa fil-am IO. i understand the no special treatment thing pero in my subjective experience, parang the fil-am IO's are extra harsh.