A woman was stopped from boarding her flight because she couldn't provide 10 birth certificates of her relatives. This made the headlines and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) received criticism.
The passenger claims she had plans to visit her cousin, Ammie Liau, in Taiwan on June 29, 2023. She couldn't show a physical copy of a photo of them together so her original June 29th trip got rescheduled to July 1, 2023.
An immigration officer asked her to provide 10 birth certificates of her family members to prove her relationship with Ammie Liau. Ammie Liau reportedly spent P17,000 to sponsor the passenger's travel expenses. But the immigration officer noticed inconsistencies in the traveler's answers which led to her offloading.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, explained the reasons the passenger was offloaded in an official statement issued on July 10, 2023.
- The passenger showed multiple red flags, although they are still awaiting further investigation of the incident.
- The passenger claimed to be visiting a distant relative in Taiwan but she also mentioned the possibility of work during the assessment. This raised concerns for the immigration officer.
- The traveler also failed to establish her relationship with her sponsor and provided inconsistent information about the sponsor's basic details.
- The traveler's ability to sustain herself during the 14-day trip was not confirmed.
- The BI suspects that the passenger might be planning to work illegally in Taiwan.
Norman Tansingco emphasized that passengers with appropriate documents matching their actual purpose of travel need not worry. He also said that most travelers experience no immigration issues. But if passengers have conflicting documentation, they would need to undergo further inspection, to ensure compliance with the Department of Justice's departure guidelines.
Tansingco intends to investigate the incident to ensure effective communication of decisions to passengers by the immigration officers.
