Pinoy Backpacker's shared Experience with Immigration Officers

adventure of challenging airport and border immigration interrogation for Pinoy global dream 

Revisiting Japan for 3 Consecutive Year (May 2013, Aug. 2014, Feb. 2015)

1st Europe Solo Trip; Arriving in Paris, France (Oct. 2013), Departing in Rome, Italy (Nov. 2013)
Visiting United Kingdom using the same Multiple Entry Visa in 3 seasons (Jun. 2014, Oct. 2014, Dec. 2014)
3rd Europe Solo Trip; 14 Countries in 23 Days including non-Euro members (2015) 

NOTE: Tips on how to react properly in dealing with Airport and Crossborder Immigration Officers abroad (based on my more than 100 airports and crossborders combined visit). This pointers are essential especially if its your first time doing leisure travel outside Philippines. Please read also query comments of our Kababayan's case experience (very important!).

Memorandum Circular 036: Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International Passengers

The following are my personal rate of experience (solo travels mostly) on Immigration Officer encounters in airports and crossborder checkpoints abroad. I rate it on scale of 1 to 5, [1 - VERY RELAX (typical inspection & zero interrogation) to 5 - STRICTEST (rigid inspection & extensive interrogation)]:

All Southeast Asian Nations are very relax so far  [Singapore(2011), Malaysia border(2011), Ho Chi Minh(2011), Cambodia border(2011), Laos border(2011), Kota Kinabalu(2013), Yangon(2014)-1, Bangkok(2014), Bali(2014), Kuala Lumpur(2015), Bandar Seri Begawan(2016)];-1 Incheon(2011)-1; New Delhi(2012)-1; Beirut(2012)-1; Cairo(2012)-1; Yerevan(2013)-1, Shanghai,Hongkong(2013)-1; Osaka(2013)-1; Czech Republic border(2013)-1; Rome(2013)-1; Tbilisi(2014)-1; Colombo(2014)-1; Marrakesh(2014)-1; Istanbul(2014)-1; Nairobi(2014)-1; Tanzania border(2014)-1; Nagoya(2014)-1; Beijing(2015)-1; Ulaanbaatar(2015)-1; Croatia border(2015)-1; Bulgaria border(2015)-1; Copenhagen(2015)-1; Kathmandu(2015)-1; London(2014)-2; Dubai(2013)-2; Slovenia border(2015)-2; Paris(2013)-3; Palestine border(2013)-3; Gibraltar(2014)-3; Male(2014)-4; Manila(2014)-4; Frankfurt(2015)-4;  Hungary border(2015)-4; Iran border(2015)-4; Switzerland border(2013)-4.5; Tel-Aviv(2013)-5.

Immigration Officers, IO's (known also as Passport Control Officers) play an extremely important role in the security and safety of any countries. At all times, he/she may arrest any person that he has a reasonable suspicion of committing an indictable offense using the "any person powers" (also known as citizen's arrest). In Philippines, many Filipino's today are open-minded in terms of leisure travel. All are dreaming of going abroad just to tour and experience of being there. Therefore, planning how to go is vital especially if travelling on tight budget basis. One of the process along the way is having interviewed by an Immigration Officer. The role of Immigration Officers are to ensure that immigration legislation is enforced. This can cover the rules of entry for Visa applicants, foreign nationals, those seeking asylum or pursuing those in breach of immigration and criminal laws. 

South East Asia visa-on-arrival (VOA) stamps (2010-2011)

Visa on Arrival / E-Visa Countries for Philippine Passport Holders

Pinoy travel addict mode on global scale as of October 2024

Philippine Passport holders have visa-on-arrival / e-visa privileges in more than 70 UN-recognized countries. Additional 9 countries if working as professional in Middle East (GCC) states and more than 20 countries/territories if holder of valid visa on Schengen, United Kingdom, Canada or the United States. These countries do not require to visit/have an appointment to Embassy for Filipinos with Philippine passport, either just go straight to the country or apply the visa online at home. On the other hand, the Republic of the Philippines granted visa-free privilege to Nationals from 157 countries for a period of stay of thirty (30) days or less.

To know more about the latest visa policies of different countries for Filipino travelers or Philippine Passport Holders, use the following keywords in web search engines;

* search "visa policy of (country you like to visit)" or "(country you like to visit) mfa"
* https://www.passportindex.org/comparebyPassport.php?p1=ph&fl=&s=yes
* https://visalist.io/philippines/all-visas
* http://visados.com/en/

the new Philippine e-passport

Summer Africa 2nd Week-end Solo Trip: Adventures in Mauritius

Mauritius Island (Le Mourne, Charmamel, Port Louis) week-end adventure
November 09 to 10, 2018

2nd among the 3 Summer Africa week-end solo trip following the success of 4 consecutive week-ends only in Southern Europe last Sept. 2018 to maximize the Schengen Visa validity. Week-end adventure never ends indeed from 2018 Summer Europe to 2018 Summer Africa. My 9th country to visit in the Continent of Africa following the Seychelles just last week-end, 66th solo backpacking trip, total of 84th countries visited so far and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure. On this trip also I started to create the #lakbay100 quest to visit 100 countries as Philippine Passport holder.

Summer Africa 2nd Week-end Solo Trip: Adventures in Mauritius

Summer Africa 1st Week-end Solo Trip: White Sands of Seychelles

Seychelles White Sands (Mahe Island, La Digue Island, Praslin Island) week-end adventure
November 02 to 03, 2018

1st among the 3 Summer Africa week-end solo trip following the success of 4 consecutive week-ends only in Southern Europe last Sept. 2018 to maximize the Schengen Visa validity. Week-end adventure never ends indeed from 2018 Summer Europe to 2018 Summer Africa. My 8th country to visit in the Continent of Africa following the South Africa (Cape Town) last Feb. 2018, 65th solo backpacking trip, total of 83rd countries visited so far and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure. On this trip also I started to create the #lakbay100 quest to visit 100 countries as Philippine Passport holder.

Summer Africa 1st Week-end Solo Trip: White Sands of Seychelles (Grand Ansa of Mahe Island)

5 Days Solo Trip in Rainy Brazil (1st time in South America)

sightseeing Sao Paolo, Iguazu and Rio de Janeiro's best tourist attraction

October 08 to 13, 2018

"Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience. - Paulo Coelho"

My 64th solo backpacking trip, 82nd countries visited so far, 5th continent on my list and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure. I did not research much for this country as I planned to concentrate on sightseeing the cities by foot only.

Brazil is the largest country in South America and fifth largest in the world. Famous for its football (soccer) tradition and its annual Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Recife and Olinda. It is a country of great diversity, from the bustling urban mosaic of São Paulo to the infinite cultural energy of Alagoas, Pernambuco and Bahia, the wilderness of the Amazon rainforest and world-class landmarks such as the Iguaçu Falls.
https://wikitravel.org/en/Brazil

timezone - UTC -0300H                              capital - Brasilia      
language - Portuguese                                currency - Real (BRL) 1 USD = 3.7 BRL
visa - Filipino citizens traveling to Brazil as tourist or for business for up to 90 days do not require visa, provided that he/she will not seek any employment in Brazil.
http://manila.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/consular_services.xml

5 Days Solo Trip in Rainy Brazil (1st time in South America)

How to Apply for East Africa E-Visa as Philippine Passport Holder

an adventure of Pinoy backpacker in processing travel documents

general info:

* East Africa E-Visa is valid within Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda only (airport and land border).
* East Africa E-visa print-out is to exchange as visa sticker in passport on airport arrival 

* multiple entry within 90 days from the date when the visa sticker was applied

* as of June 2017, visa-on-arrival still in process in Entebbe Airport (Uganda)

EAST AFRICA TOURIST E-VISA REQUIREMENTS:
1. scanned information page of passport (more than 6 months before expiry)
2. latest passport photo
3. scanned copy of yellow card certification (for yellow fever vaccination)
4. hotel booking and itinerary details
5. confirm e-copy of flight details

TO APPLY FOR EAST AFRICA E-VISA AND PLANNING TO ARRIVE ON THEIR RESPECTIVE AIRPORT:
Uganda - https://visas.immigration.go.ug/
Rwanda - https://www.migration.gov.rw/index.php?id=203

Kenya - http://evisa.go.ke/evisa.html

East Africa Tourist Visa Sticker (Jun to Sep 2017)

How to Apply for Turkey Tourist Visa as Philippine Passport Holder

an adventure of Pinoy backpacker in processing travel documents

general info:

* Tourist visa is valid for 6 months upon issuance.
* single entry maximum duration of stay in is 30 days only.
* as of April 2014, there are 2 ways to obtain this visa; apply for e-visa or the standard process.

APPLYING FOR TURKEY E-VISA

Nationals of the Philippines holding passport with a valid Schengen or OECD member's visa or residence permit may get their one month period single entry e-Visas via the website www.evisa.gov.tr up to 90 days within six months, starting from the first entry. Not all countries are allowed to apply.

http://kuwait.emb.mfa.gov.tr/ShowAnnouncement.aspx?ID=208006

Turkey e-visa (for tourism and single entry only)

Transit in Bangkok 1st part; Suvarnabhumi(BKK) to Don Mueang Airport(DMK)

4-days Self-guided Solo Tour in Myanmar (Burma)

February 02-08, 2014

Country of Myanmar; the Golden Land

Bangkok is my chosen transit airport to Yangon, Myanmar due to no direct flights offered to Yangon, Free Visa Arrangement and very cheap round trip flight fares offered by Air Asia Thai.

AirAsia affirms its readiness to transfer all operations to Don Mueang International Airport by October 2012. The airline's flights will retain their original schedules. The uncongested Don Mueang Airport is sure to prove a benefit to AirAsia when it boosts its fleet of Airbus A320s to a total of 48 and welcomes more customers. 

http://www.airasia.com/ot/en/press-releases/don-mueang-airport-transfer.page

Assuming standard flow of traffic, travel from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport (DMK) has around 45 minutes with distance of 49,5 kilometers. During peak hours can take up to 1.5-2.0 hours. Make sure you allocate as much time as possible. For more information, please check http://www.airasia.com/ask/template.do?id=548

Give enough allowance time to departure and arrival flights from this 2 Airports for unfortunate events such as flight delay and traffic jam. As what happened to me, my flight departure from DMK was delayed by 1.5hr.

Transit in Bangkok; BKK to DMK Airport (Air Asia boarding Pass)

Visa-on-Arrival Experience in Israel Ben Gurion Airport

fearless face-off on the World's most strict airport immigration security

02 November 2013 Saturday

Flight Departure Experience from Rome Airport, Italy

As of 2013, Israel no longer stamp passports when arriving at Ben Gurion Airport. Instead, they give you a slip the size of a credit card, which act as your visa. When you leave the country you must present the slip as your proof of entry, so do not lose it! This makes it unnecessary to ask Ben Gurion staff not to stamp your passport - and, in fact, if you ask, it may lead to some suspicion on their part. Security is extremely stringent at Ben-Gurion Airport, and is especially suspicious of travelers with Muslim names or visas from Islamic countries in their passports. Expect to be stopped and questioned for several hours both on the way in and on the way out.

1st encounter with Immigration Security Officer;
I boarded from Rome Airport at Easy Jet Airline on afternoon flight. Upon touchdown and stepping on the 1st escalator, roaming passport control officer immediately asked me immigration-related questions that lasted around 5mins. This includes the following;
- what will you do in Israel?
- how long will you stay? Why 1 week only?
- what places will you visit?
- where will you stay?
- why are you traveling alone?
- what is your work, where? How long have you been working there?
- where do you live? Where is your family?
- do you know anybody in Israel right now? Sure?
- why you visit Israel just now?
- (seeing some visas to other countries) so you travel also on this country on holiday also? Why you travel a lot?
- what did you do in Lebanon & Egypt? Do you know someone there? Why traveling this countries separately?

Israel stay permit visa card (front)

Visa-on-Arrival (VOA) Pinoy Backpacker Encounters

Pinoy Solo Backpacker challenging the airports in Middle East and Central Asia

Pinoy backpacker's shared experience with Immigration Officers
Countries not requiring a pre-arranged visa for Filipino travelers

I almost swept visiting the Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) and the only remaining are Indonesia, Brunei and East Timor. The thought of moving beyond is on the process ever since. As a Filipino backpacker, the adventure of travel never ends until the meaning of what we are looking for is fulfilled. The following escapades I have done during the 2012 3-months consecutive summer get-away on week-end basis only. In addition, countries included here are located in Middle East and Southern-Central Asia.

INDIA (May 2012)

The challenge of VOA has never been this escalated as India marked as the typical "real traveler's place" . You will be ashamed to call yourself a Backpacker/Traveler if you have not been to this country. All Filipinos are visa-on-arrival in India regardless of work and departing country, only the usual requirements have to satisfied like hotel reservation, return flight ticket and itinerary. I entered and exited in New Delhi Airport and finished the VOA process only around 15minutes, hassle only were the filling-up the form and payment.

For more details how did I passed through the New Delhi Airport IO's, please click this link...
http://www.theviewingdeck.com/2012/03/new-delhi-igi-airport-arrival.html

visa-on-arrival section in New Delhi International Airport

3 Days Self-guided Solo Travel in Lebanon

3rd Summer ot-ouf the-country trip for this year

June 15-17, 2012 Friday to Sunday

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” ~ Rosalia de Castro

My 14th country to visit, 18th solo backpacking trip, 3rd visa-on-arrival (VOA) encounter and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure.

Lebanon had once been called (self-proclaimed) Switzerland and Paris of the East. The name Lebanon comes from the Semitic root lbn, meaning "white", likely a reference to the snow-capped Mount Lebanon. Upon his arrival to Lebanon around 47 BC, Julius Caesar proclaimed "Lub" "Na'an", meaning "White-Land" in Semitic. Lebanon is a country with a long and rich history. Roman ruins are scattered about the country and are easily accessible. Lebanon is easily the party capital of the Middle East and possible to drive from north to south in under 3 hours. The main means of transport are service taxis, bus and car. Either Lebanese pounds or US dollars are accepted almost everywhere, and it is common to pay in dollars but receive change in pounds. Main language is Arabic and French, some also speaks English.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Lebanon 

Temple of Bacchus

Visa-on-Arrival in New Delhi IGI airport

solo traveling new delhi - jaipur - agra (india) in 1.5 days

may 18-19, 2012 friday to saturday

India train experience and tips

I confirmed New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport deserves to be named the World's Most Improved Airport in 2012.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed at the 8th India-Asean summit last October 30th of 2010 in Hanoi that there will be visa on arrival facility to nationals of Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines and Laos, to be implemented starting January 2011. Tourist-visa-on-arrival for Filipinos shall be granted by the Immigration Officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports and shall be valid for a maximum of 30 days with single entry. This visas are non-extendable, non-convertible and shall only be allowed for a maximum of 2x in a calendar year with a minimum gap of 2 months between each visit.

new delhi airport visa-on-arrival section

airport going to new delhi, connecting via muscat

Incredible Solo to New Delhi - Jaipur - Agra in 1.5 days

2nd trip outside my 2nd second home country... jai-ho!

May 18-19, 2012 friday to saturday

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

 -  Mahatma Gandhi

My 13th country to visit, 17th solo backpacking trip, 2nd visa-on-arrival (VOA) encounter outside Southeast Asia and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure. An incredible land with incredible culture and tradition for an incredible itinerary and adventure... that is Incredible India, Jai-ho !

Golden triangle tour of India is one of the most popular and well-received tourist circuits of the country. The tour basically covers three of the most famous cities of New Delhi- the country capital, Agra- home to the spectacular Taj Mahal, and Jaipur- the Rajasthani Capital.

The aim of this trip why I could not wait to extend it to other month are;

1. to see and explore Taj Mahal - the jewel of Muslim Art in India

2. to experience the Indian style haggle madness in train escapade
3. to conquer the golden triangle tour in limited amount of time

4. to just get-out of my country of work for stress relieving purposes

golden triangle tour of india (new delhi - jaipur - agra)