Offloading - What Does It Mean And How to Avoid It? - Part 1 of 3

DISCLAIMER: The current Corona pandemic situation has resulted in many changes, including but not limited to additional requirements for travelling abroad, which I may NOT have discussed here. This article is just based on my own experience and should NOT be considered as legal or official advice.

This article is based on my personal experience only for a self-financed travel to a visa-upon-arrival country for the purpose of tourism. You may be asked different and/or additional documents depending on your purpose of travel and/or visa and your answers to the interview questions. Preparing these additional documents is your personal responsibility. Offloading can still happen even if you already have a valid visa such us, but not limited to, Sponsored Visit Visa, Student Visa, Working Visa (OFW) and Immigrant Visa (Family Reunion Visa and Marriage Visa). I will try to write more on this soon.

I have heard and read a lot of horror-stories on the subject of offloading, so when I had the chance to travel abroad for the first time, I spent time to research about it.

First, it creates a lot of confusion that we don't have a definitive rule about offloading. The term ''Offload'' itself is not mentioned in any guidelines available online for outbound Filipino travelers. The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI), a government agency tasked to monitor that the exit of Filipino citizens from the country is in compliance with Philippine laws and other legal procedures, said in a press statement that there is ''no such thing as offloading policy.''

So, what is offloading?

Offloading technically means to unload (a cargo or a passenger) from the plane. In the context of Philippine Immigration Authorities and this article, offloading means that a traveler is, at the point of exit, not allowed by the Immigration Officer to leave the country and board the plane. 

At any International Airport in the Philippines, international travel departure is mostly straightforward with the following steps:

Step 1. Check-In with Airline

Step 2. Immigrations Screening

                  Step 3. Security Check

Step 4. Waiting or Boarding Area

Offloading may happen during Step 2. This can be a big torment on the part of the offloaded person. At this point you already have a boarding pass and checked-in your luggage. Once offloaded, you will have to face the issue of claiming your baggage. Since no one ever planned for this kind of eventuality, you may be left stranded at the airport with no immediate access to accomodation and transportation, and worse not enough money to get by. The airline will most likely not care and also NOT refund your airfare. You may also have the possibility of dealing with the financial burden of non-cancellable and/or non-refundable hotel payments, attraction tickets, onward journey tickets, and other costs.

Standard travel requirements for Filipino Citizens traveling abroad for Tourism Purposes

During immigration screening, the immigration officer (IO) may just ask for the following:

                Standard Travel Requirements (1)

1. Unexpired DFA-issued passport (at least six-months valid;
2. Unexpired visa (if visa-required at final destination); and
3. Return ticket.

After examining these documents, the IO will ask a few questions, chop your passport and you are good to board the plane and enjoy your trip.

BUT. There are cases wherein the IO, when deemed necessary, will ask for more documents and/or inform you that you need to undergo a secondary inspection. It is during this secondary screening that offloading may happen.

Basis for secondary inspection

Here is a direct quote from the Philippine Bureau of Immigration website,

Consistent with anti-human trafficking, -human smuggling, and -illegal recruitment laws, additional documents shall be required after (1), when:

a. Passenger discloses a doubtful, false or suspect travel intent;
b. Passports and travel documents/visas are counterfeit, fraudulent, falsified, simulated or tampered; and

Passenger’s totality of circumstances manifests a well-founded certainty of human trafficking, smuggling or illegal recruitment.

2.1. What are considered under 2(c)?

1. Age/Health;
2. Educational attainment;
3. Financial capability for travel;
4. Travel history, if any; and
5. Final destination.

I believe that the main purpose of these guidelines and regulations is to protect the traveler, but it also leaves a lot of room for interpretations and may be subjective on the part of the Immigration Officer.

I personally experienced the dreaded secondary inspection and despite my diligent research on the subject, it still turned out to be a nerve-wracking experience.

At that time, I was traveling to Singapore for tourism purposes. I booked a red-eye flight via Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Ours was the only flight scheduled to depart at that time and the half-lit departure area was almost empty except for the personnel responsible for preparing our flight and my co-passengers. Only one Immigration counter was open.

After the standard screening procedure, I was told (along with 5 or 6 other passengers) to wait aside behind the IO counter. I waited in a semi-dark corner without any other clue what will happen next. Two immigration officers arrived to settle us as our boarding time neared.

TIP: It is best to be early for check-in and go to the Immigration counter as early as possible. This way, you have at least additional time to spare if you get the secondary inspection.

How to avoid being offloaded

Read the entire BI guidelines for outbound passengers here. Prepare all documents you need based on your purpose of travel including supporting documents that may be asked for, even if it is not listed on the BI website. 

Having done a lot of readings, I was ready with all the other documents the IO asked based on my stated purpose of travel. These documents are NOT listed in their website:

1. Invitation Letter from my friend --- stating pertinent details, such as her address, her status in the destination country, my duration of stay, etc.

2. Certificate of Employment signed by my employer, Approved Leave of Absence --- all in original copies

3. Company ID, PRC Card

4. Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Bank Passbook

5. Itinerary, Bus tickets, bookings for attractions I wanted to see

I was required to fill-up a Border Control Questionnaire which included the question of how much money I have with me. I was also ready to present the CASH I had in my pocket but the IO didn't ask me to. The actual screening lasted 10 - 15minutes, but waiting for my turn to be screened seemed forever. The IO made photocopies of the documents I presented.

Answer the IO questions with confidence. Be clear and be honest. Prepare to support your declarations with documents. 

What are supporting documents that I need to ready?

1. Proof of financial capacity

As a tourist, you are expected to travel for leisure. The term itself suggests that you should be able to afford the trip and prove your financial capacity when asked.

As a basis,  I looked up how much the average travel cost is in Singapore and I multiplied that amount with the number of days I intended to stay there. I readied to prove that I have this amount by bringing my credit cards, debit cards and even my bank passbook.

2. Itinerary

Tourism is the act of travelling or sightseeing. As a tourist, you should also be able to answer when asked which places you want to see, for example. I prepared a simple itinerary of my planned daily activities. I also booked ahead the attractions  that I wanted to see (Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Zoo, etc.) so I can show proof of bookings as needed. 

3. Proof of hotel bookings/accomodation

For tourism, you are also expected to have your accomodations arranged ahead of the trip. The IO might ask you to show confirmed hotel bookings in your own name. 

In my case, I intended to stay at a friend's apartment for the duration of my stay in Singapore. So, she sent me via E-Mail an Invitation Letter to this effect. I simply printed a copy of the E-Mail and brought it with me. 

TIP: If you are traveling to stay with or meet a friend, make sure that you know the person's personal data such as full name, address, and contact number. It would also be best if you already have met the said friend in person and able to prove the acquaintance, e.g. by showing a picture of you together.

Profiles of passengers that may be subjected to secondary inspection

As I mentioned above, the interpretation for the guidelines for secondary inspection and subsequent offloading may be subjective on the part of the Immigration Officer.

Based on stories that I read on the internet, most offloaded passengers claim that they were treated unfairly and were asked for documents that are not even listed in the Bureau of Immigration website. 

On that fateful day, I cannot help but hear bits and pieces of conversations (we were all interviewed in an open hallway with no privacy) and was able to put together the circumstances or profiles of passengers that may be subjected to a secondary inspection:

1. A single female, solo-traveler going abroad for the first time.

2. A young, unemployed female who claims to go abroad for 5 days but has a 50kg worth of luggage.

3. A government employee who said he will go abroad to attend a birthday party but cannot present an Invitation Letter and Authority to Travel.

4. A young lady going abroad to met a foreigner boyfriend for the first time.

I heard enough to know that Passengers No. 2 and 3 were offloaded. Passenger No. 4 was still pleading her case with a lot of tears as I, Passenger No. 1, was allowed to board the plane. I ran to the boarding gate as I heard, ''last call for boarding, last call for boarding...''