Travel nightmare: Offloaded by Philippine immigration and how to prevent from happening

One of the worst travel nightmares of the Filipino citizens are being offloaded by Philippine Immigration. This is one of the many dilemmas of Filipino travellers passing thru our international airports even the travel hasn't started.

Check-In counter for ANA at NAIA Terminal 3

As per Bureau of Immigration's website, Filipino travellers should have the following if the purposes is for tourism;

1. A valid passport (valid more than six (6) months on the date of departure)

2. Roundtrip ticket and Hotel bookings

3. A valid Visa (if applicable)


Filipino travellers should consider in bringing other documents;

4. Company ID and / or Certificate of Employment

5. Proof of relationship (PSA documents; if travelling with children / relatives)

6. DSWD Clearance (if unaccompanied minor)

7. Affidavit of Support: Authenticated by the Philippine Embassy, if invited by relative overseas and          they will support your stay)

8. Travel authority from the Philippine government (if government employee / public official)

Philippine Passport

After check-in, travellers will fill-up departure card and proceed to the Immigration counter, where the immigration officer will asked you a preliminary questions such as;

1. Purpose of travel

2. Employment in the Philippines

3. Duration of stay in your destination / Return date in the Philippines

4. Where you will be staying in your destination

5. Who are your companions (mostly female travellers)

If your answers, didn't suffice, they will put the traveller to secondary interrogation, where another series of question will be asked. If the officer, wasn't convince to the answer, they will be subjected to be offloaded.

No Cart sign at the Arrival concourse at Haneda International Airport (HND)

During my 2 trips to Tokyo, My experience with the IO's wasn't bad. I wasn't asked too much. They just asked my employment, duration of stay. After that, biometric and photo capturing and proceed to the airside. No hassle at all! Though, I wasn't asked to present other documents, it is better to be prepare, you will never know when you will be needing it. The whole process took me approximately 2 minutes.

Another thing, if asked by the Immigration Officer, always be polite (pretend if you want to), being rude to IO's might offload you as well. Be truthful to your answers, these Officers are well-trained to decipher to whom are hiding the real purpose of the trip. Lastly, don't add dramas and commotions, it will give more chances of being offloaded.

Tokyo Station

If travelling to countries that Filipinos doesn't need a visa, research about the destination and plan your itinerary, IO's might randomly asked questions about it and if your destination is not a common country for tourism. These countries are most of the time where illegality happens.

In case of being offloaded for a valid reason, the BOI nor airline will refund your ticket, only the terminal fee and travel tax will be refunded. Going home dismayed of the situation..

The road that leads to Akihabara

I fully understand that the Philippine Immigration is strict to Filipino citizens because in the past, Filipinos are used as drug mules, human trafficking, faking travel documents, and for illegal undocumented workers pretending to be a tourist in the destination. It is the Bureau's duty to protect its citizens from harm overseas.

If you passed the screening, then, congratulations! Enjoy the travel!

reference: http://immigration.gov.ph/faqs/travel-req