BI’s unreasonable demands

There are a few countries to which Filipinos are privileged to go without need of a visa. The only things these countries require are a valid passport and a return ticket. Of course, the tourist has to bring enough cash for his needs, something that he determines for himself as he knows how he wants to spend his vacation—whether to go into a shopping spree or keep his spending to a minimum.

So the question is, why are Philippine immigration officials making it difficult for Filipinos to travel to those countries by demanding “unreasonable documents”? I say unreasonable for two reasons:

First, as earlier noted, the host countries themselves do not require the additional documents; second, passengers usually arrive at the airport two hours before their flight, when the baggage check-in counters open. Does the immigration officer honestly believe that when he asks them to present three months’ worth of bank statements, an employment letter and a letter of invitation, a traveler can produce all those documents in the span of two hours, before the boarding gates are closed and his plane leaves?

If a passenger has enough cash on hand, why require him to produce bank statements? Also, does the immigration officer assume that everyone has access to Internet banking?

But asking the traveler to come up with an employment letter or a letter of invitation defies all reason. Does the officer expect the HR department to be at the beck and call of its employees and to issue an employment letter in an instant? What if it was a weekend or outside office hours?

Don’t immigration officers also know that most, if not all, Philippine embassies are now closed during weekends? Or haven’t they seen the situation at most Philippine embassies, where an entire day would be wasted to secure a document because of the number of people the embassy has to serve every day?

To add to the insult, the immigration officer, refusing to listen to reason, simply tells the traveler to rebook his ticket and return when the requested documents are ready. As if it were really that simple. Vacations have been planned, off-days have been requested from the company, and money paid for hotel accommodation or tours cannot always be refunded. Also, the traveler will now have to pay the full airfare because he will be booking a new flight so close to the travel date, instead of enjoying his original plane ticket that was likely purchased at a discounted price.

What are these immigration officers trying to accomplish by going beyond the requirements of a would-be host country? If the Bureau of Immigration (BI) wants to require travelers to produce employment certificates, bank statements and letters of invitation, then it should come up with clear guidelines and require airlines to provide passengers with such information at the time of booking. These guidelines should also be published on the BI website. Until such guidelines are published, the bureau should stop the unacceptable practice of asking additional documents from travelers.

—JOHN ALVIN CABRERA,

[email protected]