Philippines Stopping Filipinas from Leaving As A Tourist?

oh my, i lost my confidence again, i already compiled some pictures of us together, and some proof of gifts he sent me on my birthday, even the money he sent to me to pay the Fedex charge he sent thru my Maybank Account, our chat logs, and hotel booking i made when he visited here last December 2014, and now i saw your update posted today, and i became worried again, i always ask my friends to join me when i visit him this June 2015 coz when you leave with a group they will not question anymore, i'm planning to visit him for a week, and was planning to bring $600 for my stay there(for 5 days) as a pocket money, he will sponsor my hotel booking, foods, and tour, i will only pay for my shopping spree.

But now, i lost my confidence again. 

Sorry to worry you. This happened to her twice last week. She had round trip tickets and money but they still refused her.  I am flying in to escort her through but from.what I have been reading on other sites, she may still not be able to.leave.

Does she have Hotel Booking with her for 14 days of staying there? and Yes $500 is questionable for IO if youre staying longer. How about proof of her bond here in the country that will prove she will come back? Has she showed anything else?

She only had her passport a return ticket and hotel booking and the $500. Did not know she would have any problem.  Did not know there was a problem leaving her country for a holiday. What is the bond?  Where do you get it?

Any bond like a contract or certificate of employment here in the Philippines. She should have prepared that to show the immigration officer upon leaving the country, so they will know she will come back..

She does not have a job. Still in University.  Taking this semester off.

This is not possible! We are guaranteed in our constitution freedom to travel!

I don't have an idea for students who will travel alone, she should ask and research more, if anyone here can help, please answer him..

Or maybe she should have showed some registration or enrollment documents proving she will come back for studying, and if she will be asking to show money, she should bring more than $500 for 14 days of stay, voz if you would summarize it that amount would not be enough, and ask her boyfriend to send her letter of invitation, proving he will support her when she goes there..

I just also noted some tips they gave me here, some documents to show to prove you will come back..

Cynthia. Apparently it is not so. Many girls are defused every day. I have looked at many different sites and it is a big problem.

If minors are being brought outside of the country, the Philippine immigration can questioned them; if their is doubt as to where the Filipina is going because of the Human Trafficking Law there maybe an issue here; Ask the immigration the reasons why these Filipinas are being stopped and money should not be a reason; have not heard that you can no longer leave this country because of the reasons you are giving in this blog!

The problem is the country where this individual is going! The Philippine government only ask for the passport, pay the travel tax; money bringing outside which is limited under the money laundering law!

Not so. It happens often and causes big problems. She is 21, a university student and had a round trip ticket to Vietnam the first try and to Thailand the second time.  Both times refused for various small reasons. Even though she told them she was coming to meet me the tickets and cash were not enough. Now I am having to come there to try to get her out so we can have a holiday. In reading other posts, even this can not be enough. This happens to young women no matter what age.

The immigration is wary of the human trafficking specially with young Filipinas maybe this law is getting abused by the immigration officers; so what are these small reasons? I can ask

This immigration officers tend to be over zealous on their job!

Sure. Going too long with too little money..even though coming to see me. Said she needed an invitation letter and proof of my financial ability. That is ok except they should make these requirements public before a person buys tickets and can comply with them,  Same the second time but also needed this information from me certified by the Philippines Consulate or Embassy and she was going for too long. I doubt they make every single girl provide this but there were a number of girls denied on.both of these flights. Other countries do not deny their citizens over 21 the right to travel. I can understand it if it was someone 18.  But at what age does a person make their own decisions without government interference.

Just as I will say with your statements this is not procedurally right! As I said we have a constitutional guarantee to live where we want unless there is a crime involve! Ask these officers' names and also ask where do they get these regulations!

Yes, I plan to but apparently from other websites, this is a common occurrence.  And if we are standing there waiting to board a plane, what can we do with the information. Facebook websites! And if you Google this issue, you will see how common this is. It has cost a great deal of money so far with no recourse.

I know that these kind of immigration officers should be kicked out from job! Maybe as a suggestion, go to the immigration department ask for assistance before buying a ticket; as long as their travel is legit, there is suppose to be no problem; and as an adult that lives in a democratic country, we are suppose to encounter no problem in going from places to places not banned by the Philippine government as a war zone;

Thanks. I already purchased the tickets on line through Cebu Pacific. Not it is just see what happens. I arrive there early Tuesday morning and fly out Tuesday night. Wish me luck.

Wish you luck!

If you have time, please update us what happened.. Good luck on your trip..

I though I'd give my experience traveling out to the Philippines with a Filipina on her first trip out of the country since I was fortunate enough to come across this thread before the trip.  I'm a US Citizen and have a Filipina girlfriend.  Not a real serious relationship but we have been very good friends in person now for a couple of years and enjoy each others company so I figured it would be great to take her along on a week long trip to Phuket Thailand.

Based on this thread and other internet accounts I kind of had a pretty good idea what to expect.  I talked the issue over with my Filipina girlfriend ahead of time and she kind of dismissed it as overblown complaining by a few unfortunate travelers who had a bad experience and said it would be fine.  I made sure she had printouts of round trip ticket, and hotel reservations in Thailand, about USD$800 in "show money" and a credit card in her name.  We arrived at MNL terminal 2 very early (fortunately), paid travel tax, checked in, and proceeded to immigration together.  I handed over both our passports together so it was clear we were traveling together.  The first immigration woman, stamped my exit normally, then asked my gf a few questions in Tagalog which I don't understand and then filled out a sheet for her and directed us to a row of chairs waiting for an office behind the immigration counters, before the security checkpoint, and gave her a two page form mostly about finances, who paid for the trip, how much it cost and such.  ALLOT of questions.  There were about 8 other travelers, all Filipina (all female, no males) waiting ahead of us for interviews.  There were two female immigration officers conducting interviews.  One seemed nice, and one exuded bitterness and anger in her demeanor.  We waited like 45 minutes and were very fortunate that when our turn came up we got the nice Immigration agent not the bitter angry looking one.  I was allowed to sit with her for the interview but it was all in Tagalog so I cant say much what was discussed except what my girlfriend told me after but apparently they grilled her on how long she has known me, (almost 3 years) our "intentions" (just friends), how she supports herself (she's between jobs but has money but she told them I give her support, not true, she has never ask me for money, but that's what she told them),  The Immigration lady ask her if she had proof of remittance like Western Union receipts, she does not since I have never sent her money but she told them I just give her money when I come to the Philippines since I come almost every month.  The Immigration Officer then asked to see MY passport and spent allot of time scrutinizing the dozens of Philippine entry and exit stamps in my passport and asking if we viisited eache other on those trips.  That I had evidence that I DO visit the Philippines almost monthly, that apparently was a BIG factor in supporting that I have indeed known her in person for a long time because up until that moment, although I don't speak Tagalog I felt my girlfriend seemed to be floundering a little and I would have guessed the interview wasn't going well.  After she looked at all the stamps in my passport it seem to go much smoother.  The immigration agent then gave ME an affidavit of support type form and basically I had to sign off that I would support her if anything went wrong on the trip and make sure she got back OK.

She had "show money" and a credit card in her name but that was never asked about on the interview so it wasn't a factor and didn't make any difference.  MY travel history showing many visits to the Philippines seemed to be the biggest factor in her favor.  I really don't think she would have made it through if she was traveling on her own because she couldn't show current employment or evidence of how she supports herself.  Plane tickets and hotel reservations were looked at.  I think it also made a difference that we were both dressed well and looked like decent presentable people. 

The trip to Thailand was great.   A month later we took a second trip, this time to Singapore.  We departed from Clark Airport and there the Immigration officer briefly questioned her about what our relationship was and then asked her if the stamps in her passport from the Thailand trip was traveling with me and then asked for my passport back and went through and matched the stamps in her passport with the stamps in my passport verifying that that trip was in fact with me and after that the Immigration officer went ahead and stamped her passport without sending her to a secondary interview.   The second trip was much easier than the first.

Very good description of the process. My gf would not have made it if I had not been there.  It is definitely meant to intimidate and restrict Filipina travel. I Did not see any young men Being interviewed .  It is unnecessary interference in people's lives. It is a very expensive requirement for a foreign boyfriend who obviously must travel there to take a Filipina on a visit to another country. If I want to take her traveling again, I must factor in the cost of going there to walk her through immigration.  What a bunch of crap. Another reason to dislike the Philippines

IT WAS THE SAME FOR MY GF....I WAS TEACHING SCHOOL IN THAILAND AND ASK HER TO COME AND STAY WITH ME...SHE WENT THROUGH HELL AT THE IMMIGRATION IN MANILA....THEN OUR 2ND TRIP TO SINGAPORE IT WAS NO PROBLEM....

thanks

Hi there,

  I just want to ask what r the documents  needed to present to Philippine Immigration to travel Phuket Thailand,
I have my passport ,ticket,and hotel booking as well as show money. thankz

Hi there, you can bring proof of bond here in the PH like cert of employment, and also bring an invitation letter from your friend in Thailand.

I dont have friends in thailand ,, is it true if traveling tourist  visa need to get affidavit of support from phil. Embassy thailand??

If you are going as a tourist you must show airline and hotel reservations and enough money for the length of the stay. We tried to get a 16 day visa with $500 and they said not enough for 16 days. If you mention that you have a friend they will require the letter of support. This may all depend on your age and if you have children. Also, if you overstay the time you say, they may not allow you to leave again.

Im ofw here in kuwait iwill take my sister to thailand she is 26 years old first time for her im afraid BI would not allow her ..we dont have friends in thaland just 1 week stay i have 40k pesos..for the trip..

She dont have work in philippines also we dont allow her to work never had experience of working .. I hope she would not face any problem

Just send her some letter of invitation coz you are related, and maybe some documents that will prove you will support her, i think family related are easier to exit, unlike with single Filipino girl that will be visiting with unrelated person abroad, coz BI is just trying to prevent human trafficking.

I will be with her from manila to phuket cos ill go manila for vac then we go phuket ..both of us will face BI 😥 hope we both pass cos its really expensive..

I already left the country for my 4 days tour to Hong Kong, will I to have a problem going to Vietnam next month?? I only had problem or been held talking to the immigration officer in Manila because I can't show her my hotel reservations. I only showed her my passport, company ID and back and forth plane ticket from Davao-HK and HK-Davao. And that's it. It was almost 30 minutes of staring and talking with the immigration. They don't also need to see your money.

Karen you are very right! Money is only a concern if you are planning to take out pesos beyond the limit allowed by law;

I have asked my friend from the immigration about this, this interrogations only happen when there is a suspicion of a crime! But still unconstitutional as it is merely a suspicion!

Good for you!

I will travel with my sister in phuket younger one she is 26 yrs old but she is not working im the one who is working its a trip for 7 nights only .. Is it oky even she dont have work???

What could be the requirements for her ??

Of course it is alright with you to bring your adult sister to tour Phuket! As any individual going out of the country, all you need is a passport, copy of the ticket! And look happy that she can see this beautiful place and By having a passport, this is a presumption that you are entitled to travel; only fugitive of a crime or where there is a pending case in court and hold departure/watch list order can be stopped to travel by the immigration! She is 26 years old and we suppose to live in a Democratic country!

What you do in another country is already beyond the jurisdiction of the Philippines!

It was explained to me the reason for this tight security is the growing human trafficking but the suspicion must be supported by evidence; if there is none, the duty of the immigration officer is to advice the risk the traveller is taking but not to the point of taking away your sister's right to travel!

Yes i heard BI are so strict especially if no work cox they think travellers with no work they would not come back and seek job in the country of destination.

It is not crime to seek a job in the country an individual is traveling! That is no longer the business of Immigration; i

Hi, everyone does anyone here know someone traveling from Philippines to Ecuador?
Whats their experience with the airport immigration in manila? What they usually ask?
I'm going to Ecuador to meet my boyfriend from U.S.
would be nice to hear from you guys.😊