Conditional Permanent Resident and PH Immigration Offloading Issue

[pocccco 4]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading several (horror) stories about PH immigration offloading or holding up Philippine passport holders unreasonably at the airport to the point that they miss their flights. I'm currently visiting my family here in the Philippines for the first time since I got my conditional US permanent residency (green card) and I'm a bit anxious dealing with PH immigration when I return to the US especially since I'm a female traveling alone. (Unfortunately my partner wasn't able to join me for this trip because of work commitments.) Would anyone here who has/had a conditional green card and traveled to the Philippines before be able to share their experience with PH immigration when you returned to the US? What was your experience like? May I know what questions and documents the PH immigration officer asked you? I was hoping to prepare as best as I could before my flight back to the US.

 

Thank you so much!

 

[Loren Y 2,755]

If you are a green card holder it shouldn't matter. My wife and I went thru manila on the way back to the USA a few years ago, had no issues at all. If you hold a valid green card, I cannot see them denying boarding or anything. And they have no authority over the green card as it is issued by the US government. I cannot see them being justified in holding up someone exiting the country without a pretty good reason. I've never had an issue with PH immigration. Maybe post this in the PH forums, and see if anyone has recently been thru there.

[RO_AH 1,659]

1 hour ago, pocccco said:

I've been reading several (horror) stories about PH immigration offloading or holding up Philippine passport holders unreasonably at the airport to the point that they miss their flights.

Right here is your problem. You are seeking and reading these stories. They don't apply to you so stop worrying yourself, it's not good for your health. Think of the 1000's and 1000's of people that fly out of the Philippines every day with no problem. Why are you seeking out the very few that did not go well. You don't know the exact reason, only the infamous "they said" which everyone spreads around in the PH. Maybe documents weren't in order, maybe forged, maybe underage with fake visa's.

[EatBulaga 315]

@pocccco I've seen some of those stories on the Philippines news. And discussed some of those with my Filipina spouse. Those stories are definitely more of the exceptions than the rule. Those are most likely some rogue gate agents or rogue immigration officers trying to extort money. So they essentially can make up any concerns to hassle you till you miss your flight, or until you get the message to pay some extortion.

 

One news that I heard was a Filipina traveling alone overseas for a vacation and the officer said that the Philippines passport photo was not her. And they questioned her background going back to her high school and asked her to prove it by showing her high school yearbook photo. Well needless to say she didn't have it and she didn't get the message to pay. So this Filipina missed her flight and reported the incident to the higher authorities which didn't do anything. So she reported to the Philippines news channels. Because of this and other similar news reports, more stories came out about the corruptions at the Philippines airports from stealing luggages to extortions.

 

There are some checks-and-balances going on because the Philippines government certainly wants more tourism dollars coming in, and such news give the Philippines a poor reputation for tourism. But at the same time, the average wage for the Philippines airport workers are low enough that some are willing to go rogue and extort from the  travellers.

 

So this is not an immigration issue, but more of how do you deal with a rogue agent? The best advice I got about traveling to the Philippines is to be unassuming so that you are not a target. Or at worst, pay the extortion--at least you may be helping out the rogue agent's family.

Edited July 6, 2023 by EatBulaga

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

My wife traveled by herself last year as a green card holder. No issues. You will be fine.

[top_secret 2,396]

US Permanent Residents will have no problems at all with Philippine exit immigration.  Make sure you don't add ₱1,620 Philippine travel tax in any of your tickets and do stop by the TIEZA counter before checking in so you can claim your travel tax exemption as an overseas resident.

[pocccco 4]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for your replies and sharing your experiences. These really help ease my worries, nay, paranoia.

 

@top_secret, I really appreciate your practical advice. This is definitely helpful as I wasn't even aware that overseas residents are exempted from the travel tax.

 

Again, many thanks y'all!

[Adventine 3,196]

I travelled last year using my conditional green card. No hassles at all. I didn't need to present anything apart from my passport, GC and COVID test result.

 

Thousands-even tens of thousands- exit the Philippines every day and the vast majority of them don't have issues.

 

PH immigration officials target Filipino tourists who they suspect (rightly or wrongly) are going to work abroad illegally or who might be human trafficking victims. They don't bother hassling GC holders.

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Adventine

[IWander 589]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:05 PM, pocccco said:

Hi everyone,

I've been reading several (horror) stories about PH immigration offloading or holding up Philippine passport holders unreasonably at the airport to the point that they miss their flights. I'm currently visiting my family here in the Philippines for the first time since I got my conditional US permanent residency (green card) and I'm a bit anxious dealing with PH immigration when I return to the US especially since I'm a female traveling alone. (Unfortunately my partner wasn't able to join me for this trip because of work commitments.) Would anyone here who has/had a conditional green card and traveled to the Philippines before be able to share their experience with PH immigration when you returned to the US? What was your experience like? May I know what questions and documents the PH immigration officer asked you? I was hoping to prepare as best as I could before my flight back to the US.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Much ado about nothing